Getting to Know You
by musicalreader
Summary: Here is the Epliogue. the story is over, here's what happens afterwards. review if you want, in any event, i have had fun on this section, but am moving on to Danny Phantom. look for my first story sometime next Friday. i love you all and wish you luck...
1. Chapter 1

Getting to Know You

Alvin and Britney's story

By musicalreader

Dedicated to Venus and Apollo, in whichever names they care for.

Alvin couldn't believe just how boring this night was turning out to be. First he had agreed, reluctantly, to go out with this needy girl from his science class. Now it turned out that not only was she his "#1 fan" who had followed his friends the Chipettes, his brothers, and him around all last summer on their big tour, but now she says that she has always had a thing for him. UUUGGGHHH!!! He hoped that Britney was having a better time on her date with Jess from the varsity basketball team.

Britney couldn't believe that she was out on a date with the second most popular guy in school, and he was a complete idiot!!! He constantly acted conceited and was just in general, a horrible date! Why had she said yes in the first place? It definitely wasn't because he was popular, if she wanted status in a boyfriend, she'd have asked Alvin out.

"So what did you think of the game last week?" Jess asked, snapping her out of her thoughts,

"What game? I was in the studio last weekend, was this the one that you guys played against the Lions?" she responded, taken a bit off guard

"Ha! You're funny, the Lions game was a month ago, and we kicked their asses! Well, I should say that I kicked their asses" he said with his usual air of superiority. Then he continued to talk all about how he had faked around every defensive player on the opposing team in vivid detail, complete with a game winning shot involving a crumpled up napkin and a trashcan half way across the room from their seats.

"Yeah well, it's getting late," Britney interrupted before he could start in on another story of how awesome he was as an athlete, "and I promised my mom that I would be back in the house by eight, so I'm gonna go now" she said hurrying to get away from this awful date.

"Wait, I'll drive you to your house" he volunteered, "I know where you live and it's real close by so I don't mind"

"Oh, well alright" she responded obviously taken back by the sudden change Jess had just shown from arrogant athlete to a genuinely nice guy. What she failed to realize was the fact that he was also notorious for taking advantage of the girls he went out with. And she definitely didn't notice the evil looking gleam in his eye.

When they reached Britney's house, she turned to say thanks for the ride only to be confronted by Jess' face being uncomfortably close.

"Uh, what are you doing?" She asked him.

"Well, I was thinking, you mentioned that your mom is out of town for a couple of days, right?"

"Yeah…" Britney responded uneasily, not liking where he was going with this

"Well, why don't we go inside and fool around for a while?" he said with a lascivious smile that revealed his one fake tooth he had earned in a fight with Alvin last year over who was more popular.

"Uh, no, I don't do that, and I certainly wouldn't do that with you if I did" she said bluntly

As she turned to open the door, however, she saw that it was still locked. A chill creeped up her spine as she felt him put his hand on her shoulder and spin her around to face him.

When she was forced to look behind her at Jess, she saw that his face was a barely controlled torrent of anger and disbelief.

"What do you mean, no?" he asked menacingly, "No girl ever says no to me"

"Well, obviously I did, and if you know what's good for you, you'll let me out of this car right now before I call the cops, or worse, I deal with you myself!" she shouted back at him

Now Jess may not have been the smartest guy in the world, but even he had heard about what happened when Britney got angry, and he had seen firsthand what happened when you pushed her too far. Better to let her go than risk a broken bone, and he reluctantly unlocked the door for her and as she climbed out of the truck, he sped off flipping her the bird as she walked up the steps to her house. But as she drew closer, she thought she saw a familiar shape outlined on the porch of her house; a familiar shape wearing a red hat.

When Alvin looked up, the first thing he noticed was that Britney looked a little relieved to see him.

"What happened? You're date not go well?" he asked with a slight look of superiority, per usual.

"No, that guy wouldn't shut up about himself and then he has the nerve to try and make it with me in his van!" she said angrily at the memory.

When he heard what Jess had tried to pull, he almost got up to chase his van down on foot. Instead, he laughed at her annoyance and remarked, "And I thought my date sucked, at least she didn't make me do anything against my will, though it wasn't for lack of trying" he said with his usual cocky smile.

"Well what did you guys do?" Brit asked him innocently, but Alvin could hear the wheels turning in her head as she tried to figure out where this girl had gone wrong.

"Well, for starters, she tried to convince me that the group should cover a few of Lady Ga-Ga's songs and that our old stuff was wearing out" he replied with a sneer as he said Lady Ga-Ga.

"Well, I agree that it is time we recorded some new stuff. But still, Lady Ga-Ga, really? She doesn't have any better taste? I'd have walked out on a date like that in a heartbeat, but what else did she do?" she commented, obviously interested now.

Alvin was glad she was so engrossed in his past misery, so he continued, "After that little slip up, this dumb bitch tries to tell me that we were made for each other, and she starts on this ten minute tirade about how we'll be the perfect family when we get older," just the thought of that part of the conversation made him shudder in horror, "I mean, who the hell says stuff like that on the first date, I gave her some excuse that I was feeling sick and bolted out the back when I had the chance"

"Sounds like you win the award for worst date ever" Britney commented sarcastically

"Yeah well, I wish I hadn't won that one. It's more fun to win the best date award" he remarked with his usual smile.

"Well, you know, I'm always going out with these wierdos, I wonder when I'm going to go out with someone I can really relate to?" she wondered out loud.

"Yeah, I hear you on that" Alvin chipped in, "What would be cool is if we both had a day where there was no drama though, I think that's what makes us go out with these freaks" he mused

"They're not all freaks, most of them are guys I just don't like well enough to see as a boyfriend" Britney retorted

"Well, say what you will, I still say that 90 percent of the girls I go out with are psychos of one breed or another. I mean just last week I went to the movies with that girl from the dance team that wouldn't shut up about how much I reminded her of Edward from Twilight. I've never been so insulted, even if she meant it as a compliment"

"Maybe we should try something new" Britney said out loud

"Different? Like how different?" Alvin asked curiously

"How about," Brit continued, "instead of going out with a different person every week, we try and see who can go the longest being single. That includes flirting" she challenged

Alvin laughed when he heard the last part, "You're joking right? There is no freaking way either of us can win that bet, we flirt more than anyone in school, it's just who we are"

"Yeah," Britney agreed, "besides, you'd probably lose…" she trailed off dangling the taunt in front of Alvin's nose, just waiting for him to bite, and sure enough, he did

"Oh really? I'll bet you twenty bucks I can go longer without flirting than you. And to make it interesting, the loser has to do anything the winner says for a whole day" he replied holding out his hand to shake on the deal

Britney shook his hand and chipped in, "Ok, just remember that you added that last part in. because if I win, I can think of a lot more embarrassing things than I could three years ago, the last time you said that. You do remember what I made you do, right?" she asked innocently

Alvin's face began to turn as red as his shirt as he thought back to the time she had made him streak through the school assembly in eighth grade. That little stunt had gotten him suspended for a week and an appointment with the school counselor until the day they graduated.

"Hey Brit," he asked trying desperately to change the subject, "are we still on for the sleep over at your place this weekend?"

"As far as I know, yeah we're still good, all I have to do is stay out of trouble for another day and you guys can come over for the night. Jeanette has a projector rigged up in the garage so we can watch some movies in wide screen, and I believe Eleanor's making her famous double chocolate chip high protein cookies for snacks" she answered, her mouth watering at the thought of her little sister's special cookies, it usually took a big event to get her to make them, but she had recently started making them whenever the Chipmunks spent the night. That was probably because it was Theo's favorite dish.

"Well, are we going to be spending the night on the pull out sofa like when we were little, or are we going to be separated between the guys and the girls?" he asked remembering how strict Miss Miller could be about the whole personal space thing.

"Oh, don't worry about that Alvin, or did you already forget that Miss Miller is visiting her sister in Texas this week?"

"Wait, you mean that you and the girls have been in the house by yourselves for the last few days?" Alvin asked, obviously amazed that Theo had not taken advantage of the fact to visit Ellie more.

"Yes Alvin; and we've gotten along just fine on our own. Or are you wondering why our little siblings haven't been spending more time together at our house?" she asked with one eyebrow cocked in scrutiny.

"Well," he admitted red faced, "I did think they would be a lot closer if there was the opportunity…" he trailed off realizing just how overbearing that statement sounded, but Britney obviously found his discomfort funny because she laughed.

"I'm sorry Alvin, but you are just the most unobservant person I've ever met, you actually think the two of them aren't closer than hand holding and kissing?" she asked, amazed at his cluelessness, "I happen to know that your little brother has gotten farther than you think, and apparently, he's very good in bed"

"What!!!???" he yelled in shock, "How do you know that?"

"Well, unlike Jeanette, who has trouble remembering the month most of the time, Eleanor keeps a diary, a diary I might add, that is very easy to open, even without the key" she answered with an evil knowing smile, "As it turns out, you remember that week the two of them took off during the tour last summer?"

"Yeah, I remember, but they were both dressed when we came in. and except for that one night, they were in separate rooms, when the hell did they"

"The last night, apparently we came in the room almost right after they got redressed, and since then, she just keeps a running tally in the back of her journal with the number of times since"

"I didn't think he had it in him, I mean, he was always the baby of the family, do Dave and Miss Miller know about it?" he asked curiosity quickly overcoming his jealousy at the indignation of being beaten to the ultimate goal of every man by his little brother.

"Well, I know Miss Miller doesn't or else the two of them would never be left in the same room again. But I'm pretty sure Dave talked to Theodore already" she speculated

"Now that you mention it, he did have a talk with us before we left for the tour, he probably saw it coming!" he exclaimed in understanding.

"Well, either way, I think the whole story is a great thing for the two of them, I mean, they are just so cut together!" Britney said

"Yeah, I gotta admit, they do make a cute couple, hey, I wonder when Simon is going to notice that Jeanette likes him?"

"Who knows, but I have a plan to help them get pushed in the right direction" she hinted

"What plan?" Alvin asked, always eager to get in on a prank

"Nothing bad, just a little game of spin the bottle" Britney confessed, "But I figure that any little help would be good for them"

"I hear you on that," Alvin confessed, "after seeing the two of them flirt unintentionally for a few years, I'm starting to get sick of the whole scene, you know? I just want them to take the plunge and let the rest of us get on with our lives"

"Tell me about it," Britney sighed melodramatically, "I see Jeanette trying to get Simon's attention almost every day, and the few times he picks up on it and tries to make a move, she decides to space out and miss it"

"Hey, what time is it?" Alvin asked suddenly realizing that it was getting dark really quickly

"If my watch is right, it's about eight thirty. Why? Does Dave still have you on that nine o'clock curfew?"

"Eight-thirty?! SHIT!!! If I'm late again, I can forget about the sleepover, I'll be sleeping with the worms!" he freaked as he ran for his car parked on the street, looking over his shoulder as he tried to get home he called out, "I'll see you tomorrow, and don't forget the bet!"

"I won't!" Britney called back as she laughed at the fact that he was rushing when she had lied about the time. He'd be pissed when he got home at seven forty five, but it would be worth it tomorrow when she saw him again.

Two nights later, the doorbell ringed in the Chipettes house and all three of the girls rushed the door trying not to look too excited at the arrival of their best friends. When they were finally able to agree to answer the door together, they opened the door to find all three Chipmunks outside shivering in the night chill holding their backpacks and sleeping bags.

"It's about damn time!" Alvin laughed, smiling at his friends.

"Sorry, come on in, you guys look like you're freezing out there" Eleanor said giggling at how badly the boys were shivering while they sat inside warm.

After bustling through the front door and throwing their things on the floor near the staircase, the boys made their way into the living room where a large square of clear space replaced the usual floral print couch.

"You'll be sleeping here tonight," Jeanette said almost like she had rehearsed the line, "The girls and I will be upstairs though when we're done with the games and movies for the night"

"So, what are we talking here, I don't know about you all, but me and the guys don't usually konk out until about four or five in the morning" Alvin said smugly

"Well, that would explain how short you are Alvin," Jeanette chided, causing Alvin to go beet red in the face.

"And it's usually you who keeps us up 'til five in the morning anyway." Simon chipped in.

"Yeah yeah, so what are we gonna do first?" Alvin asked ignoring his brothers remark.

"Well, first, we're going to watch some movies in the garage," Eleanor stated, "we dragged the couch out there this afternoon so it's a lot more like the movies, and I think Jeanie finally fixed the short in the projector" she said looking at Jeanette for an answer.

"Yep, all I had to do to fix it was replace some batteries, and just so you know, we couldn't decide what to watch so we rented three different movies. Our options are Grease, Julie and Julia, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Who wants to see what?" Jeanette answered, looking to the boys as she read off the list of options.

"I say we watch Julie and Julia" Theodore piped in, grinning at Eleanor

"Well, I want to watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show!" Alvin said excited at the thought of seeing the one big movie Dave had forbidden him from seeing.

"I think Grease would be a lot better, and it has some great dance numbers." Simon answered matter of factly.

"Well, crap, that was a three way split too," Eleanor said, mulling over the problem in her head.

"Why don't we just watch all of them?" Alvin asked, "It's only seven now, we can still see all of them, but we should see the boring one first so we don't go to sleep too early."

"That's actually not a bad idea Al," Simon commented looking pleasantly surprised that he seemed to finally understand about compromising, "But which ones the boring one?"

"Duh, the cooking one" Alvin replied as he ducked a punch that Theo had aimed square at his shoulder

Several hours, and plates of cookies and soda later, the Chipmunks and Chipettes crawled out of the garage looking sufficiently freaked out after seeing The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

"I can't believe that doctor," Britney said critically, "Did you see what he was wearing in that one scene?"

Alvin, Simon and Theodore simultaneously shuddered, "Don't mention that please" Theo begged

"On the other hand, the music was alright" Jeanette said, not quite comprehending why the others were so wierded out by the movie.

"The only song I liked out of all of that movie was the time warp," Alvin stated emphatically, trying to get anyone to contradict him, when nobody did, he changed the subject.

"So what do we do for the rest of the night?" he asked Britney, knowing full well what she had planned.

"Well, I thought we could play some party games," she began, but was interrupted by Eleanor announcing that the next round of snacks were ready.

When everyone had had their fill of Eleanor's cookies and assorted sodas, Britney stood up and announced, "Ok, this is getting pretty boring, anyone else agree?"

Of course Alvin raised his hand, and so did Jeanette and Theodore. When she saw that most of the group was ready to try something more fun than eating and watching movies, she continued.

"Well, since we need something to do, and obviously makeovers are out of the question, who wants to play a game?" she asked looking around at the small group trying to read their expressions.

"What game did you have in mind Britney?" Simon asked

"Yeah, we don't have any consoles, and the guys have played every board game we have, what do you have that's new?" Eleanor asked suspiciously

"I'll show you," she replied mischievously, as he led them into the living room where the large swath of carpet was and sat them all down in a circle.

"Are we going to play Mafia?" Jeanette asked, ever the inquisitive one

"No, and stop guessing." Britney replied calmly; as she reached into a bag hidden out of sight behind the girl's television set, and brought out a clean label less glass bottle.

As understanding slowly dawned on the others faces, Britney couldn't help but feel superior to them. After all, she had managed to take the two smartest kids in class completely by surprise.

"Hell no" Simon said resolutely, "I am not going to play Spin the Bottle"

"Why not?" Britney asked frustrated, she had gone to all the trouble of setting up this little moment so that hi and Jeanette could get a little closer, and now he didn't want to try!?

"I promise we'll only make guy-girl spins kiss," she continued, thinking that it was his fear of spinning one of his brothers that kept him at bay.

"I don't care, this isn't appropriate for us," he said indignantly

"I think it could be fun Simon, why don't you try it out first" Jeanette said, figuring out what could happen if they played.

"I don't know Jeanette, do you think it's a good idea, I mean it is Britney's idea, this could be a trick" he replied cautiously.

"I think you should try it out before you judge, Simon" Eleanor piped in, looking at Theodore alluringly

"Well, alright, but what do we do if I spin and it lands on one of the guys?" he asked

She thought about that for a few seconds and said, "Well, if a guy spins a guy, or a girl spins a girl, the one the bottle lands on has to share a secret"

"I don't mind, but how about this, the spinner gets to ask them a question that they have to answer" Theodore said trying to be helpful

"That's a great idea Theo!" Alvin exclaimed excitedly

"Alright then, let's get started, make sure you all sit guy to girl, or there will probably be a lot of secrets tonight" Britney said, ready to get the game underway

As she reached for the bottle, her heart sped up a little bit, would she have to kiss one of the boys? Or would she have to tell one of her biggest secrets to the group? The tension was killing her. As she watched, the bottle slowed down and pointed at…

As Britney watched in anticipation, the bottle began to slow down and finally came to rest in pointing right at Jeanette.

As Jeanette tried to come up with a good question, Eleanor whispered to Theo, "I hope she comes up with a really good one, if it had landed on me, I was going to ask her who she had a crush on."

"But I thought we all knew she liked Alvin." He replied confused.

"Yeah we all know it, but that would mean she would have to say it out loud.

As Theo and Ellie were whispering back and forth, Alvin decided to get a jab in at Brit.

"Well, that's good for you Brit," Alvin remarked sarcastically, "It could have landed in front of Ellie and you might have had to tell a really juicy secret"

"Shut up Alvin, she still has to ask me a question," she snapped back.

Suddenly, Jeanette said, "I got one!" excitedly.

"Well, what is it?" Simon asked suddenly becoming a little more interested in the game.

"It's a good one. I promise," she said to him as she looked to Britney and asked,

"Have you ever had sex? And if you have, who was it with?" she asked with a smirk.

Relieved that it wasn't a more private question, Britney replied smugly, "I hate to disappoint you, but I'm still a virgin."

"Oh," Jeanette, a little disappointed that she had wasted her question.

"Okay, it's my turn now, right?" Alvin said as he reached for the bottle to spin it

When Alvin spun, the bottle landed in front of Eleanor,

"Well, that's awkward," Eleanor said.

"Yeah, you cool with this Theo?" Alvin asked

"Hey, we knew the rules when we agreed to play. Like it or not, I have to kiss you Alvin" Eleanor answered for him as Theo opened his mouth to respond.

And so saying, she leaned across the circle and tried to imagine that Theo as the one she was kissing, which is a lot harder than she thought as she soon found out that Alvin wasn't the same kind of kisser as Theodore. His was a kiss that was somehow more uncaring and colder. She could only assume this was because he had hoped for a chance to kiss Britney.

When they broke away, they were both red in the face, and were surrounded by laughter, or at least Simon and Jeanette found it funny. Britney and Theo were both trying not to look; probably both for the same reason, Jealousy.

Over the next hour, the list of awkward kisses began to steadily grow, as did the list of secrets told. The biggest event of the whole game was when Simon finally spun Jeanette and the rest of the siblings decided to cheer them on. Jeanette looked like she enjoyed the kiss, but Simon looked just a little sad about the whole event.

"Oh well," Britney thought to herself after seeing his expression, "If he didn't like it, that's between him and Jeannie"

Finally, as the hands of the clock began to slowly inch towards midnight, Britney spun the bottle, and it stopped pointing towards none other than the boy she had had a crush on since before the sixth grade.

"Oh shit…" Alvin said with pleasant surprise as he noticed that the bottle was spun towards him.

"You sound disappointed there Al, what happened? I thought you liked Britney." Eleanor commented in his ear quietly.

"It's not that, I just wasn't expecting it is all." He replied in his usual prideful way.

"Well…" Britney said from across the circle, "Are you going to kiss me or not?" she asked trying not to reveal her elation at having finally spun Alvin.

"Gimme a minute," he said nervously, sure he had kissed girls before, but none of them had been his best friend.

After giving him a few seconds to compose himself, Brit gave up on waiting and leaned forward to surprise Alvin a full on kiss much to the surprise of his brothers and her sisters. After a second of surprise, however, she found that he was returning the kiss several times over.

When Simon could stand it no longer, he leaned in and said, "Break it up or find a room you two"

After kissing for a few seconds more, the two of them broke away to breath and were surprised to find their siblings gawking at them.

"What? You've never seen a kiss before?" Britney asked her sisters.

"Seriously you guys, you're acting kind of creepy right now…" Alvin said a little red in the face as he realized that Britney and he had just kissed for the better part of two minutes.

"Okay guys, I think that is the end of the game right there." Jeanette said slightly amused that her older sister had just made a huge show of what was supposed to be a simple game.

"Yeah, I'm feeling really tired now that you mention it." Theodore said a little self consciously.

"So who's sleeping where again?" Britney asked trying to hide her embarrassment.

"I think guys sleep here," Eleanor replied, "and we're upstairs, but I think it would be cool if we all slept here tonight, it's supposed to get really cold."

"Alright, then let's go do our night stuff," Jeanette prompted, retreating slowly from the room to escape the mood that had settled over the room.

"Yeah, let's go to bed." agreed Simon, heading up to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

After everyone was settled into their sleeping bags, Britney got up to turn off the lights. After about five minutes in darkness, four of the six kids had fallen asleep, only Alvin and Britney were still awake at one 1 the morning. After lying in the dark for what seemed like eternity, Alvin got up and walked out the front door to sit on the porch to think.

"What are you doing out here?" Britney said, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, I didn't hear you come out." He said trying to dodge the question, "why are you still up?"

"Probably the same reason as you, can't sleep." She replied brusquely.

"Oh, anything you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Sure, why not." She answered, wondering if he was feeling the same things she was right now.

"You know how Wednesday, we were talking about relationships?" she asked him quietly.

"Yeah, I remember." He replied, not quite sure where this was going.

"Well, when you left that night, I thought you were trying to say something is all. What was it you were really saying?"

"I was just saying that most of the people we date are jerks who just use us to become popular or semi-famous. It just occurred to me that the only person I don't have to be popular or cool around is you." He said.

"And…" Britney prompted, trying to get him to continue.

"Well, when I'm around you I can be myself, I don't have to be the bad boy. You see me as I really am, and you don't judge me. I really like that about you." He said blushing in the darkness.

"Well, you know, I really like it that you can be so open around me. I usually have all these guys trying to impress me and going out of their way to show how masculine they are. You just do what you do and let people say what they will. Even if you are impulsive a lot of the time" she said with a smile.

"Yeah, and back there, when we were playing Spin the Bottle, I was kind of hoping that I would spin you at least once." He continued, "And when I did, I was so happy that I literally didn't know what to do. Then you kissed me first and it felt so good, like I didn't want to end it."

"I didn't want it to end either," Brit said quietly, sidling up to Alvin's side, just trying to get closer to him.

"You mean that?" he asked, scared that this would turn into another of her jokes, "You really liked it?"

"Of course I did Alvin, I thought you knew" she started to say, but stopped before she let spill the biggest secret she had.

"Knew what?" Alvin asked, curious as to what would make her stop short.

"Nothing, it's nothing" she said trying to hide her face from his gaze.

"Well, you know, when we were playing, I was actually scared that I would spin one of my brothers." He confessed.

"Why? If you spun Theo or Simon, you would only have to answer a question. What did you think they would ask?" she questioned him.

"I was actually worried that one of them would ask who I had a crush on." He confessed.

"Well, since they aren't around, why don't you tell me? I won't tell anyone." Britney said confidently.

"I want to tell you, but I can't." he replied much to her dismay, "If I told you, you might not be my friend anymore, and I couldn't live with myself if I didn't have someone like you to talk to."

"I promise I won't make fun of you." She swore as she ran through a list of girls she had seen him talk to a lot at school, trying to narrow her guesses down.

"You promise, you won't laugh, and you won't overreact?" he asked cautiously.

"I swear I won't." she promised him as she waited for him to keep going.

After taking a few deep breaths, he looked her dead in the eyes and said, "You"

**How will Britney react? What will happen? And how will this change their lives?**

**The answers to all these questions and more await you in the next chapter of **

"**Getting to Know You: More than friends?"**

Thank you for reading, please R&R. sorry about the two part format. I promise the next chapter will be published as a whole.

Happy Reading

Musicalreader


	2. Chapter 2

Getting to Know You

Alvin and Britney's story

Part II

When we last left Britney and Alvin, Alvin had just confessed his feelings to Britney after an exciting and insightful game of Spin the Bottle. Let's see what's happening now…

"Me?!" Britney asked, both stunned and excited at Alvin's answer.

"I knew it; you're going to hate me now!" Alvin lamented, obviously misreading her expression in the darkness.

"On the contrary, I was worried you would say someone other than me." She said quietly when she saw that he didn't believe her; she leaned over and kissed him again. This time though, she poured all of her emotion into the kiss she gave him, and as soon as he recovered from his shock again, he began to kiss her back with a passion that neither knew could exist.

As their kissing deepened and their senses began to lessen until the only thing that seemed real was the person in their arms, the porch light flicked on startling them both. The door creaked open and Eleanor poked her head out and said, "Not to be rude but, if you guys are making out, does this mean you are finally going out?"

Alvin turned a deep shade of crimson and scratched his head as he answered, "Actually, I didn't get the chance to ask yet"

He shyly turned to Britney and asked, "Will you go out with me?"

"Oh Alvin, of course!" Britney answered excitedly, ecstatic that he had finally asked her out.

When he heard her answer, he almost fainted from shock.

"Wait," Britney said as she turned an evil eye to her sister who was still in the doorframe looking at them with a smirk, "What the hell are you doing up at this time of day, you were asleep a few minutes ago."

"Well, I was going to wake up Theo and do what you guys were doing, but I figured I'd at least see who asked out whom first." She replied smugly.

"Why did you care?" Alvin asked suspiciously.

"Well, you see," she said in reply, stumbling over her words as they came out, "We had a pool going as to when you guys were going to finally start going out, and there was also a side bet between me and Theo as to who would do the asking. Heh heh, guess I should have kept that a secret huh?"

"Oh yeah, cause tomorrow when the guys wake up there's gonna be hell to pay." Alvin swore with an angry look on his usually collected face.

"That goes for you and Jeanette as well." Britney said.

"Heh heh, I'll be going now…" Eleanor replied laughing nervously as she imagined what Brit would do to them in the morning.

"What do you think she was really doing?" Alvin asked Britney when the door closed.

"I think she was actually trying to see if we'd hook up." Britney replied.

"You know what; I think it's getting early. Maybe we should go to sleep?" Alvin suggested.

"I think that's a good idea." Britney answered, the moment of magic they had just shared lost in the wake of Ellie's interruption.

And so our young lovers shuffled back into the house and crawled into their sleeping bags, both hardly daring to believe what had just happened.

The next morning, as the kids struggled into waking up after their long night,

"HHHAAAAAHHHH" Theo yawned as he sat up.

"Morning babe," Eleanor greeted him with a smile.

"Will someone please shut the sun off…" Alvin mumbled as he stuffed his head under his pillow.

"I don't think that would be physically possible." Jeanette said in reply, obviously not getting the joke.

"I think he means close the curtains." Simon said from his spot on the floor, as he rolled over onto his back and blinked away the sleep that had accrued during the night.

"I got it." Britney said as she stood up out of her bag and stumbled over to the curtains to close them.

When the lights were dimmed, thanks to the curtains, Alvin groaned out a thank you to Britney and rolled over to continue sleeping. Only to be kicked in the side by his brother Simon.

"OW! What the hell Si?"

"Get up; you still have to do the science project we were assigned last month. Remember? It's due tomorrow?" he replied coolly as he made sure that Alvin actually got out of bed this time.

"Ugh, at least let me eat something before we head out to the damn library." Alvin grumbled.

"Eleanor has some food for us in the kitchen." He replied curtly, turning to leave the living room to go eat breakfast.

As he watched Simon leave the room and turn the corner, Alvin muttered, "Scrooge"

After checking the bathroom to see that it was clear, Alvin peeled off his clothes and hopped in the shower. As th warm water began to flow over him, he thought back to the night before when Britney had put her head on his shoulder as they watched Grease, and how much he could relate to the guy in the movie, trying to impress the girl he thought didn't like him. Then when he found out that she did, he didn't think there was a word out there to express just what he felt. Then this morning, nothing, almost as if she was trying to forget about last night.

"Maybe she's not a morning person…" he pondered out loud to himself.

After a few more minutes of letting the water run down his skin, he decided to get out and get dressed. The only problem was that he had forgotten to bring a towel in with him.

"Ugh, you have got to be kidding me!" he said in exasperation as tried to figure out what to do next. He knew where the linen closet was, but it was also clear across the hall and out of reach unless he sprinted. And even then, there was a chance that someone could see him while he made this mad dash. Maybe he should just call out for one of his brothers to bring him a towel?

"Need one of these?" Britney said from the doorway, startling him to the point that he actually slipped and fell, cracking his head on the water spout.

"WHAT THE HELL!!!" he cried in alarm. Trying to turn himself so that he still maintained a sliver of privacy, "Why are you in here!? Did you knock?!"

"You left the door open," she said, covering her eyes, "And I saw that you forgot a towel, so I went to get you one when you shut the water off and I was standing here. Sorry, I just tried to do something nice, and I ended up scaring you."

"You didn't scare me, you took me by surprise, can I have the towel now?" he said trying to will his face to go back to its usual tan color, rather than the rose complexion he had recently adopted.

"Oh, sure, um, I'll be going now," she stumbled over her words as she left the towel on the sink and closed the door.

"Geez, I think she was more embarrassed than me" he said to himself, "I wonder what all she saw?"

After a couple more minutes of wondering what she was really doing in there, he decided he'd be better off asking her later, when they had a chance to be alone in the library, and he proceeded to finish up with his morning routine.

Britney couldn't believe what she had just seen. She had originally gone up there to use the bathroom, but when she went in and saw that Alvin was using the shower, she immediately tried to avert her eyes, but after a couple seconds of being in the same room as him, her will power had crumbled and caused her to sneak a look at him. Even with his back turned to her, she was still amazed at the tone he had, and the water running down the little canyons between the finely sculpted muscles of his back had her wondering just what his front must look like as he reached for the shower handle and turned off the water.

As he did, the steam seemed to dissipate instantly and he turned around to reach for the towel that wasn't there. When she saw him reaching around on the empty rod, she was hit by an idea, and announced her presence by offering him her own towel. Needless to say, the whole scenario had played out better in her head.

As she left the bathroom red in the face, she ran smack into her little sister Jeanette, though little was a relative term.

"What were you doing in there?" Jeanette asked curiously.

"Uh, I just went in there to give Alvin his towel." Britney replied trying to forget everything else she had done before then.

"Alvin's in there?" she asked a little shocked, "If he's in there, why did you go in?"

"Uh, I went in there by accident," Brit hastily answered.

"But you just said,"

"I know what I said Jeannie, now let's go get some breakfast." Britney cut her off, trying to steer her away from the whole topic.

"But I already ate, didn't I?" Jeanette said, though not very convincingly, as if she was trying to remember if she had actually eaten.

"Well, you know what, I want to have breakfast with my sisters, so come on." Britney said and physically spun Jeanette around and led her into the kitchen to eat, and wait for Alvin to come down from the bathroom.

When he was done getting changed into his usual red shirt and jeans, Alvin walked down the stairs trying to avoid his brother so he could at least have a few minutes of quiet to himself before going off to the library for the day. When he reached the bottom of the steps that led into the kitchen, he saw that Britney and Jeanette were eating at the counter by themselves. Thinking it was safe to approach, he started to walk forward quietly so he could scare them like normal. As he got closer though, he was too stunned listening to what they were talking about to care about scaring them.

"So do you want to tell me why you were really in the bathroom with Alvin?" Jeanette asked.

"I told you already Jeanette, I went in there by accident, and we didn't do anything, I was handing him his towel and then I left." Britney replied.

"Well, whatever you did in there, please tell me it won't come back to haunt you." Jeanette finished going back to her toast.

"It won't, I promise." Britney said determinedly.

"Well, isn't that sweet, and here I thought you were in there to check me out." Alvin burst out, startling Britney and Jeanette both.

"And all this time, it was an easily forgotten accident. Good to know Brit." He said as he stormed out of the room with a pained look on his face as he went to go get his stuff from the living room.

"Ah shit," Britney said under her breath as she chased after him once she had collected her senses.

"Oh dear," Jeanette exclaimed, feeling partially responsible for the whole incident, "Should I come along and try and explain?" she asked as she watched Britney rush out of the room after Alvin.

"NO!" Britney said emphatically, "Just go tell Simon that he'll be up to the library after I have a talk with him."

As he was packing up his stuff in the living room, Alvin heard a small noise coming from the entrance. When he looked up, he saw that the noise was caused by none other than Britney, who stood there looking at him like she was ashamed.

"What do you want?" he snapped at her, the hurt he felt becoming apparent immediately.

"I wanted to talk to you about what happened," she said hesitantly.

"And what happened exactly?" he asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me, all I know is the boy I told my feelings to last night is acting really strange today, and I'm not sure why that is." She answered quickly.

"So you were serious last night, you were serious?" he responded, still refusing to look her in the eye.

"Of course, and I think you were serious last night too. Which is why you have me worried when you act like this all of a sudden."

"Gee, let's think about this for a second Brit, last night was great. I can't stop thinking about it, but this morning, you don't so much as say hello, then you turn up in the bathroom watching me, which doesn't really bother me if you ask, then to top it off, you tell your SISTER that you'll forget it all happened. Tell me which part of all this I'm supposed to be cool with Brit." He said angrily, all while Britney watched in disbelief as he unloaded all this on her.

"Alvin?" she asked, wondering if it was safe to talk yet, "Are you done yet?"

"Yeah, I'm done, now what?" he responded.

"If you must know, I couldn't stop thinking about last night either, that's why I was up in the bathroom, I needed to cool off and gather my thoughts. Seeing you was a pleasant surprise, and I was just about to leave when I saw you getting out and decided I'd save you a trip down the hall." She started, as he listened silently, "Then when I left, Jeanette saw me and was trying to figure if we were in there having sex, that's what she meant by, _it won't come back to haunt you, _that was it. Tell me what about that gives you the right to act so mean."

"Brit," Alvin started to say as he got up, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright, I'm just glad you aren't still mad about the whole watching you in the shower thing." She said relieved.

"Oh that I'm going to get you for, but not yet, and definitely not here." he replied with a wicked grin that sent chills of anticipation up her spine.

"Why not?" she asked seductively, leaning into his arms, trying to get closer to him.

"If only there weren't these damn clothes in the way" she thought to herself.

"Because," he replied in her ear, his breath tickling the back of her neck, "You're little sister is standing in the door watching."

When she heard this, she immediately straightened up and mad some distance between herself and Alvin, trying to keep up appearances. But when she saw Jeanette looking on with a smile, she knew that she wouldn't tell. Her sister had always nursed a soft spot for romantic stuff like this, and she was always trying to find ways to supplicate the unrequited love she felt for Simon, perhaps she was imagining herself and Simon in the same position she found herself in when she was with Alvin.

"Can we help you Jeanette?" Alvin asked offhandedly, though he seemed to like the way _we_ sounded when he spoke about them.

"Oh," she said, snapping out of her trance for a minute, "I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm ready to take you all to the library when you are. Simon already drove Theo and Ellie over an hour ago."

"Cool, just give me a minute to get my stuff together." Alvin responded as he stooped to finish his packing.

By the time the three of them reached the library in Jeanettes van, Simon, Theo, and Ellie had already done a fair amount of the work for their presentation that was due Monday. As Alvin and Britney rounded the corner to the spot that Simon usually reserved for them, they were greeted by the interrogation techniques of Eleanor and Simon, while Theodore was in the back highlighting passages from the textbooks.

"Did you guys have a nice leisurely trip over here?" Simon asked sarcastically.

"Actually, yes." Jeanette replied for them, obviously not picking up on the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Chill Si, we were a little late and now we're here. Just let it go and let's get this shit done so we can still salvage what we can of the day." Alvin said in answer to Simon's question.

"And just what took so long that you all showed up an hour later than we had agreed?" Eleanor questioned, trying to uncover what they were obviously hiding.

"Nothing, I just had to shower." Brit retorted sharply.

"For an hour? Seems like a long shower." Simon said.

"Look guys, can we just get this done, I kind of have plans for the rest of the day." Alvin said suddenly.

"Fine, come on, you guys have your reports outlined right?" Simon said giving up on trying to get any further on the matter, and led them over to the table.

"Uh, no not really…" Britney and Alvin said together, unprepared as usual.

"Ugh… fine, then go into the stacks and find some books for reference and when you find about five each, get back here and I'll show you how to write a draft." Simon groaned, never ceasing to be amazed at the depths of unpreparedness that his siblings constantly found themselves in.

As Alvin and Britney went into the rows of books though, he could have sworn he saw them smiling at each other, like they had other plans than doing their work.

"You should really go a little easier on them Si." Jeanette said quietly from behind him.

Simon turned around to find her an inch away from his face; he could smell her floral perfume, intoxicating as usual. Jeanette just had a way of making all the stress in his life, undoubtedly brought on by living with Alvin, disappear.

After scrambling in his head to find something to say, he replied, "If I don't make them work harder, then they'll think you can skate through life on looks and fame alone." And so saying, he turned back to his own project as Jeanette glowered in frustration at his obliviousness.

As Alvin walked away from his brother, he couldn't help but smile at the fact that he had all but been handed the chance to chill out with Britney without any interference, this was just too good. He just hoped that Britney's mind was in the same place his was.

Britney couldn't believe that they were going to be left alone until they decided to "find" some books for their report. Until then though, who could say what they would do. She just hoped that he was thinking the same thoughts as her.

After looking through the library for a few minutes, Alvin finally found an old study room that was completely out of the way, and even better, unlocked.

"Alvin, what are we doing in here?" Britney asked innocently, "I thought we were here to get our projects out of the way."

"And we will, but I think that we could use some motivation to get done faster." He answered with a lopsided grin that gave her chills in all the right places.

"Oh, and what kind of motivation would that be?" she asked, liking where this was going very much.

"I think you know what I mean." He said as he closed the gap between them and gripped her around the hips and pulled her closer until they were kissing and grinding all at the same time.

As they continued to kiss and caress each other, the time seemed to flow much slower, and they gradually began to lose all track of time. The problem with time slowing down though, is that when it starts again, it has to go much faster to catch up, and our two lovers learned this the hard way as they were torn back to reality by Theodore materializing in the doorway and clearing his throat.

"Uh, you guys…" He said, really not wanting to break up such a scene.

As she regained her senses, Britney spoke up, "Yes Theo? Can we help you?"

"Yeah, I really hate to interrupt you guys, but Simon was starting to wonder if you were crushed by a bookcase. You've been doing _research_ for the past hour."

"Oh shit, we've been in here that long?" Alvin asked surprised.

"Kind of, yeah" Theo replied as he turned to leave and leave them alone again.

"Maybe we should go and actually do some work…" Britney suggested.

"One last kiss before I lose you to the books?" Alvin said pleadingly.

"No, if I kiss you again, I'll lose the rest of the day." Britney replied laughing, and dragged him out of the room and into the stacks of books to finally get their project done.

The next day, Alvin sat on the steps at the entrance to the high school with his brothers, waiting for the Chipettes to show up. They were actually late, which was rare for the girls, whose schedule was run by Miss Miller and Eleanor. When they saw Jeanettes van pull up to their parking spot and the girls climbing out looking more excited than usual.

Theo and Alvin ran over to them and each went to their respective girlfriend and went their separate ways. This left Jeanette alone with Simon.

"Hey Simon!" Jeanette said as cheerful as ever.

"Good morning Jeanette." Simon replied, still a little tired from the all nighter he had pulled to help Alvin finish his project.

"How are things at your house?" she asked, trying to start a conversation about something other than school.

"Everything's going fine, except for the fact that I now have to deal with two smitten brothers and the emotions are enough to smother a person. What about your sisters?" he answered.

"I think it's lovely that our siblings are going out. It's so romantic, don't you think?" she said misty eyed over the whole affair, and wondering if Simon felt the same way she did.

"Heh heh, you've always been a bit of a hopeless romantic, haven't you?"

"Yep, and proud of it!" she said smiling at him, trying to make that smile convey all her feelings to him silently as they walked into their first class.

After Alvin and Britney walked off, they ducked into an abandoned classroom for a quick morning make out session, and neither realized what the time was until the five minute warning bell rang and they had to scramble to their first period, which conveniently enough, was the same science class.

As they walked in to take their seats, they were confused when their classmates started to clap and whistle. Then they realized that they were still holding hands. The cat was out of the bag now…

_**To be continued in CH III…**_

Did you like that story readers? If you have questions, please send them to me via my profile page. If you have comments, please leave them in the review page. Thank you for reading.

Happy Reading

Musicalreader


	3. Chapter 3 preview

Getting to Know You

Alvin and Britney's story

Part III

**The following is a sneak peek at the third chapter. If you have any suggestions, please send them to me.**

When last we left our lovers, they had just walked in to their class holding hands, thus exposing their relationship to the usual congratulations, questions, and possibly hatred. What will happen? Let's take a look…

When the clapping had died down from their classmates, Alvin and Britney were both laughing nervously. It seemed to them like their class had been anticipating their eventual relationship, and had just applauded them on finally taking the leap. They sat down in their desks in the back of the room together, both slightly red in the face from the unexpected audience. When they had settled in, Alvin's friend from sports, Sam, slid into his seat next to Alvin and started to talk to him.

"Hey dude, you finally asked her out? Nice man. How did you do it?" he asked not seeing Alvin squirm in his seat at the personal question.

"Uh, I just sorta told her how I felt and she said she felt the same. But I was hoping to keep it low on the radar for a little. So much for that." He replied sounding disappointed.

"Well, you are the most popular guy in school, and she is the hottest girl in the district. Add that to the fact that you both are famous singers, how long could you have kept it secret anyways?" Sam asked, sounding a lot smarter than he was.

"Yeah, but now I'm gonna feel like everything we do is watched. You know how it is, like when you started going out with that one girl last year and people were always talking about it. I just don't want it to be like that for us." Alvin replied nervously, trying to keep his voice down so that Britney wouldn't hear.

"Dude, people have been placing bets on when you'd start going out since the fifth grade. Let it go and enjoy!" Sam said carefree as always.

"Maybe you're right dude, what's gonna happen anyways?" Alvin said laughing at his own paranoia.

As the class began, Alvin found it harder and harder to concentrate. There was a prickling at the base of his skull. Almost like someone was watching him, but that was impossible, his back was to the wall. Nevertheless, he scanned the room and found that the only person watching him was a quiet girl near the middle who kept glancing back at him and Britney.

After class let out, Alvin escorted Britney to her locker which was conveniently enough, right next to his own. As they picked up their books for second and third period, Alvin couldn't help but notice that the quiet girl from their first period had followed them the entire way, and was now standing in a corner facing them while trying to blend in with the wall.

"Hey Brit, who is that girl?" Alvin asked.

"Which girl?" Britney replied, looking around in confusion.

"The one in the corner, the one with the glasses and the ponytail." He said, pointing her out.

"Oh, that's Susan, you know, the girl who had that huge crush on you in the seventh grade. Why do you ask?" she answered

"Well, I thought she was watching us in class this morning, and I couldn't figure out where I remembered her from. Why do you think she was watching us though?" Alvin responded.

"I don't really know, and I don't really care." Britney said snappily, "Those other girls can look all they like, but you're all mine now Alvin." She finished with a seductive look that drove him wild.

"Hey, are we still on for the recording studio after school?" he asked, once his thoughts were back in control.

"Definitely," Britney smiled, looking forward to the duet covers they were going to do that afternoon, "I wouldn't miss it for anything! Now get off to class Romeo, or you'll get detention again." She said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and headed off to her second period gym class.

Unbeknownst to either Alvin or Britney though, Susan had seen and heard the entire conversation, and she was much less the quiet girl than people thought. And she was following Britney to her next class with a wicked plan in mind.

_**I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek at the third chapter. Be sure to read it when it is published and tell your friends and contacts to check this and other stories out via my profile page if you thought it was a great story.**_

_**Happy Reading**_

_**Musicalreader**_


	4. Chapter 3

Getting to Know You

Alvin and Britney's story

Part III

PREVIOUSLY…

"Hey, are we still on for the recording studio after school?" he asked, once his thoughts were back in control.

"Definitely," Britney smiled, looking forward to the duet covers they were going to do that afternoon, "I wouldn't miss it for anything! Now get off to class Romeo, or you'll get detention again." She said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and headed off to her second period gym class.

Unbeknownst to either Alvin or Britney though, Susan had seen and heard the entire conversation, and she was much less the quiet girl than people thought. And she was following Britney to her next class with a wicked plan in mind.

Britney was in the gym, practicing her cheerleading routine when she was approached by Susan.

"Hey, you're Alvin's friend right?" she said, interrupting her practice.

"Hold on for a second. ALL RIGHT GIRLS! THAT WAS GREAT, NOW TAKE FIVE AND GET SOME WATER." Then turning to Susan, she answered, "Yeah, I am. Who are you?" Britney asked rudely, wondering what this girl was asking for.

"I was just curious why you guys were holding hands this morning." Susan replied, clearly trying to find some sort of explanation for why Britney was stealing Alvin from her.

"Oh, that," Britney said feeling a little self conscious, "Well, Alvin and I are going out now you see, and if it's any of your business, couples do that sort of thing. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason, I was just curious is all. When did you guys start going out?" Susan asked trying to contain her anger.

Now these questions were not uncommon to Britney, she herself had used them for years when she was trying to get between a hot guy and his unworthy girlfriend, so she knew what was going on when she answered, "Well, if you must know, he asked me out when he was sleeping at my house. It was a lovely night and we were outside looking at the stars when he told me how he felt. You don't have a problem with that, do you?" she asked, clearly trying to needle Susan.

"Oh. Well then, I guess since you guys are going out, you already know that me and him used to have a thing. I was hoping to offer you some tips." Susan replied pointedly, trying to goad her into a fight.

"No thanks, if you did have anything going, which I doubt, and it's no longer there, then your tips obviously didn't work the first time around." Britney said, choosing not to rise to the bait, for once.

Well, if you want to be a little bitch about it, fine. I'll leave you alone then." Susan snapped, spinning around to leave the gym.

On her way out though, she made a slight detour into the girls locker room and found Britney's locker with her things in it.

"Let's see how you deal with stuff now, you selfish bitch…" she muttered to herself as she replaced Britney's white shirt with her own "special" one.

When the bell rang for gym students to redress, Britney led the cheerleaders back into the locker room sweaty and exhausted. It had been a great practice except for that creepy girl at the start of the period.

"Hey Brit, you got any deodorant?" her friend Beth asked from across the row.

"Sure, just give me a second." Britney replied reaching into her locker to pull out her clothes. When she had changed out of her gym clothes and put on her school clothes, she handed the deodorant to Beth.

"Thanks Brit, I forgot mine today and…" she trailed off looking at Britney's chest.

"Beth? What are you staring at?" Britney asked, kind of creeped out at the sudden attention her friend was paying to her bust. "Uh, I'm up here Beth. Besides, don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Uh, Brit, I do have a girlfriend, but that's not what I'm staring at. Is that your shirt you're wearing?"

"Yeah, why, is something wrong wi…" she asked stuttering to a halt as she looked at the words on her shirt that had not been there that morning.

There in big block iron on letters, were the words,

_**ASK ME HOW MUCH FOR HEAD**_

"What the hell!? This isn't my shirt! Who the fuck messed with my clothes!?" Britney yelled at the locker room, taking off the offensive fabric and holding it over her head so that people could see why she was so pissed.

"Holy shit Brit, don't stand there without your shirt on. Do you want the guys at the peephole to see you?" Beth said trying to calm her friend down.

"Oh please. We plugged that ting up weeks ago. And I want to know just who the hell thinks it's funny to mess with me!" Britney retorted.

"It was probably that creepy girl who was talking to you earlier." One of the newer cheerleaders, Jessica, said, "I saw her walk in here earlier when I was going to the restroom."

"And you didn't stop her and maybe find out what she was doing?" Britney asked accusingly, as if Jessica had helped the person responsible.

"Calm down Brit, we'll find you a new shirt and then we'll go tell the principal. He'll get her, don't worry." Beth said soothingly, trying to calm down her friend.

"No, I want to deal with her personally." Britney said with a look of pure wrath.

"Yes well, you can't kick her ass without a shirt on. I wouldn't mind, but I think the school would." Beth said appraisingly, while at the same time sifting through her bag trying to find a spare shirt that Britney could use.

"Ah, here we are." She said, finally pulling out a simple pink blouse for Britney to wear.

When Britney had put on the shirt she said thanks to Beth and stormed out of the room heading to her third period, all the while planning out exactly what she was going to do to that bitch Susan.

Lunch couldn't get there fast enough for Alvin, as he sat in the back of his Algebra II class, trying to stay awake and waiting for the bell to ring so he could go to lunch and hang out with Britney some more.

"Pssst, Alvin, you awake man?" Josh said next to him, trying to be sneaky about it.

"Yeah, somehow, whatcha need?" he responded sleepily, turning to his friend.

"I heard you and Brit finally hooked up. That true man?" He asked rudely

"What do you mean by hooked up" Alvin asked suspiciously, after all, it was Josh who had dared Alvin to do most of the things that he got in trouble for.

"I mean, did you finally get the balls to ask her out?" Josh asked laughing at his friends confusion.

"Oh, yeah, I did. What's it to you though?" Alvin asked defensively, still unsure of where he was going with these questions.

Josh looked up to make sure that they were still safe from the teacher's attention. When he was sure that they could continue, he said, "I was just curious, how far have you guys gone?"

Alvin's face glowed a little as he replied, "That's none of your business."

"I freaking knew it! You haven't even kissed yet!" he cackled under his breath.

"We have, I just don't see how what Britney and I do or do not do is any of your business."

"Chill out man, I just wanted to know because I got a great idea for a bet…" Josh said.

"Uh uh; I remember the last time I took one of your bets, I won but I was grounded for a month." Alvin replied, trying his best to ignore Josh's pleas to hear him out.

Finally, after listening to his whispered begging for almost ten whole minutes, he turned to Josh and asked exasperated, "Alright, what is this bet?"

"Ok, get this," Josh started smiling, "I bet you fifty bucks that you can't get to third base by the end of the month. If you don't bring proof, it doesn't count."

"God, you are such a pervert." Alvin said in reply.

"You're just scared you'll lose. Besides, think of what you could get Britney if you won… you could take her out for a night on the town." Josh continued to try and wheedle a positive response from Alvin.

"If I do this, you swear she won't find out? And this is just between you and me? No betting pools?" Alvin asked apprehensively.

"Absolutely, I swear, she will never find out."

"Alright then, but you'd better keep your word. Or I'll personally beat the shit out of you." Alvin said threateningly as he shook Josh's hand.

The next chapter is being uploaded right after this one, so if you have read this all the way through, odds are great that the next one is up as well, if not, please check back in about two to three hours.

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. And I'm sorry that it took so long for me to write these two chapters, I promise that the fifth chapter will go much faster. I hope.

Happy Reading

Musicalreader

3


	5. Chapter 4

Getting to Know You

Alvin and Britney's story

Part IV

When we last saw our young couples, Alvin had just made a bet with his friend Josh as to how far he could get with Britney within a week, and Britney had just had a visit from a girl who was clearly not dealing with reality. Simon is as always oblivious to Jeanettes advances, and Jeanette still tries to get him to see her as she sees him. Finally, Eleanor and Theodore are the epitome of the happy couple and are trying to help Jeanette, Britney, and Alvin to understand their respective feelings. We will now pick up after school where Alvin is excited as usual to be going to the recording studio. But he has a secret plan unbeknownst to anyone except for him and Simon. Let's watch shall we?....

When Alvin found Britney after the last bell rang, he was surprised to find that she had been crying. Not that you could tell if you didn't know her, but he did, and he also knew that she never wore her sunglasses unless she had been crying for whatever reason.

"Hey babe, what happened?" he asked trying to sound sympathetic.

"Oh, hey Alvin, it's nothing, I'll tell you after we go to our recording." Britney replied, sounding oddly cheerful.

When they climbed out of Alvin's car and walked into the familiar studio, they felt at home, this was where their magic was made. These four walls held more than just their music awards and their lifetime of achievements, it also held a lot of happy memories from when the kids were still, well, kids.

"Hey you guys, how goes it?" their recording agent Tom asked, poking his head around the corner that separated the pleasant face of the building from the actual studio.

"It's going good Tom." Britney replied happily.

"So I take it you guys are ready to start your duet record?" he asked trying to contain his excitement, he had tried to convince them for years to do a duet record, and they had only recently agreed to actually do it.

"Oh yeah, and Tom, did you hear the news?" Britney said looking him dead in the eye as she spoke.

"No, what happened?" he questioned, always ready to hear the latest gossip.

"Alvin and I are going out now!" she squealed with delight, "He finally asked me out Saturday!"

"No! Seriously?! Oh my god! That is just great! I'm so happy for you two." He replied squealing almost as loudly in excitement, which is strange to say the least, especially since Tom was a natural bass.

"Hey you two, are we here to gossip and talk, or are we going to make some music?" Alvin asked impatiently.

"Alright alright, keep your pants on Alvin. I'm just getting done with the setup like you guys sent me. I gotta say, I think that as long as you guys sing well, this is going to be another gold record." Tom said enthused by the news that they were now an item.

"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's get in there and make some music!" Britney said, dragging the boys into the heart of the building. As Tom headed into the tech room, Alvin and she headed into the studio that they had used for years.

"Are you ready in there? You have your music and you know your cues?" Tom asked over the mic in between the rooms.

"We're ready when you are Tom. Let it rip!" Alvin responded as he pulled Britney in closer and the music started, as the opening chords came through the speakers, Alvin looked at Britney and began to sing…

"**I got chills!**

**They're multiplying,****  
****And I'm losing control.  
Cause the power you're supplying,  
It's Electrifying!"**

Then Britney came in, and she belted out,

**  
"You better shape up cause I need a man  
And my heart is set on you  
You better shape up, you better understand  
To my heart I must be true"**

And in perfect harmony as usual, they sang in unison, 

**You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
The one that I need oh yes indeed**

If you're filled with affection  
You're too shy to convey  
Meditate in my direction  
Feel your way

I better shape up, cause you need a man (I need a man)  
Wooh can keep me satisfied  
I better shape up, if I'm gonna prove (you better prove)  
That my faith is justified  
Are you sure? Yes I'm sure down deep inside

You're the one that I want (You are the one I want)ooh ooh ooh honey  
You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
The one that I need oh yes indeed

You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
The one that I need oh yes indeed

You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
The one that I need oh yes indeed

You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
You're the one that I want(You are the one I want) ooh ooh ooh honey  
The one that I need oh yes indeed"

And as the music faded out into oblivion, Tom watched in amazement as the two people he had watched grow up in this very studio exchange a look of excitement and love so deep that he forgot to turn off the mic.

"Uh, Tom, you gonna sit there all day looking at us or are you gonna turn the mics off?" Britney asked him laughing.

"Oh, sorry guys! I just really liked what you guys were doing is all, sorry." He apologized as he reached for the kill switch on the mics.

"So what are you guys gonna do now? Do you want to take a break or are we just gonna plow through another song?" Tom asked when Brit and Alvin were done laughing in the studio.

"Actually dude, I'm gonna do a solo track next." Alvin said to the surprise of Britney and Tom.

"What? Uh Al, that isn't on the disk you sent me is it? Do you have a blank copy of the music to sing over?" Tom asked, looking at him strangely. After all Alvin may have done some crazy things, but this was the first time he had improvised in the studio.

"Yeah I got the disk, I had some help from Simon this morning in the computer lab." Alvin replied.

"Well then, if it's a solo track, do you want to step out and watch from here Brit?" he asked the Chipette who was still looking at her boyfriend like he had lost his mind.

"Uh, sure, just give me a minute to get my stuff and I'll be right out" she answered as she turned to Alvin and said, "I hope you know what you're doing…"

"I do babe, I do, and I promise you'll love it" Alvin replied smugly.

As he escorted her out of the room, he also made sure that he handed the disk to Tom and went back into the padded room.

When Tom hit play and record on the bank of knobs, he was astounded to hear a very familiar and very emotional piece start over the headphones and the speakers.

Alvin on the other hand, simply smiled and hoped that Britney was listening as he sang,

**I gotta take a little time  
A little time to think things over  
through the clouds I see love shine  
It keeps me warm as life grows colder**

In my life there's been heartache and pain  
I don't know if I can face it again  
Cant stop now,  
When I've traveled so far  
To change this lonely life

I wanna know what love is...  
I want you to show me...  
I wanna feel what love is...  
I know you can show me...

I'm gonna take a little time  
A little time to look around me...  
I've got nowhere left to hide  
It looks like love has finally found me…

In my life! There's been heartache and pain  
I don't know if I can face it again  
cant stop now,  
When I've traveled so far  
To change this lonely life!!!

I wanna know what love is...  
I want you to show me...  
I wanna feel what love is...  
I know you can show me...

I wanna know what love is...  
I want you to show me...  
And I wanna feel what love is....  
And I know, you can show me… Yeah!

As the song faded into the insulated walls of the studio, Alvin looked at Britney expectantly hoping that she would show what she was feeling and he could at least cheer her up. He was not disappointed.

Britney ran into the room and threw herself into his arms so happy that he had finally gotten up the nerve to express himself to her. Even if it was only just a song, it was the emotion he had poured into it and the truth that she loved him for. When she was done with the hug, she pushed herself out of his arms and took his hand and headed out of the door.

"I think that you guys are done here for the day?" Tom asked, watching the love struck teens walk out the door laughing with ecstasy, how he wished that he had that kind of connection with someone.

"Okay Brit okay, if you'll let me have my arm back, I'll drive us to the real surprise I have planned for us." Alvin griped playfully.

"Alright, I just hope that it can outshine what you just did back there. Because most things are going to pale in comparison." She joked as she crawled into the shotgun seat of his car and they took off, heading up to the hills overlooking the town.

Unfortunately, neither of them noticed that they were not alone heading up the hills. Right behind them, in a discreet black Taurus, was none other than Susan. And right beside her was a small black bag she had just for the occasion. Her only hope was that they were going out to do just what she was thinking.


	6. Chapter 5

Getting to Know You

Alvin and Britney's story

Part V

As the car wound its way up the small dirt path that Alvin had found years ago, the mood in the car changed from one of excitement to one of apprehension and delight. The delight was all Alvin's since he knew where they were heading. Although Britney tried to hide her questioning gaze from the surrounding area, she was nonetheless taken aback slightly as she watched the main road disappear and the scenery replaced by one so full of trees that she thought for a minute that they were heading for the Chipettes old tree house.

"Alright, I give up where are you kidnapping me to Alvin?" Britney asked finally, unable to stand the suspense and the fact that he had clammed up as soon as they turned off of the main road.

"I already told you Brit, I'm not gonna tell you, you'll just have to see it for yourself." Alvin said laughing at the confusion he was causing.

"Can you at least give me a hint?" she pouted, crossing her arms and acting like she was going to have a tantrum if she was not told immediately where they were going.

"Okay, how about this, I found this spot when I was like 13. I used to walk up here when I wanted to get away from the family and the world." He replied, thinking back to the first time he had come up here all those years ago.

"Well that told me absolutely nothing." Brit exclaimed after thinking it over for a little bit, as they grew closer to their destination.

"If you just sit back and enjoy the ride, it will be a lot nicer when we get there." Alvin replied, his patience starting to get a little shorter thanks to her ceaseless questions, "Seriously Brit, you'd think I was taking you somewhere to kill you rather than a picnic."

"AHAH!" Britney squealed, "I got you to at least tell me what we're doing! So much for your little secret." She said smugly as Alvin glowered behind the wheel, realizing that he had been tricked out of the surprise.

"You might know what we're doing, but only I know what we're going to see when we get there." He said to himself under his breath.

"What was that?" Britney asked.

"Nothing, now we're almost there, so just sit back and enjoy the scenery." Alvin answered quickly, trying to remember which way he needed to turn to get them to The Overlook.

And for the next few minutes, as the car edged slowly uphill on the dirt path, the inside of the car was quiet and peaceful. After another couple of minutes had come and gone, Alvin turned to Britney and announced that they were there.

"What? This is just more woods. Are you sure this is where you're taking us?" she asked incredulously.

"Babe, this is just in front of the clearing I'm taking you to. Just through those trees is the reason I brought you out here." Alvin answered, laughing.

So they got out of the car and walked the last few feet between the trees and came out on an overlook about ten feet wide and running the whole length of the hills surrounding the city. The view took Britney's breath away as soon as she realized what she was looking at.

"Oh my god." She whispered, "You mean to tell me that this is where you went when you wanted to be alone? And no one knows about it!?"

"Yep, no one outside of me and a few close friends know about this spot. It's the only part of this whole cliff that is even safe. See those stakes with the red paint on them?" he asked pointing to the ground about twenty yards away from them, "Just stay on this side of those and you're completely safe."

"What happens if we step over the limit?" she asked, naturally curious, and always ready to test the boundaries.

"Well, according to Si, if you step on the other side, I believe the ground collapses and you fall several hundred feet to the ground below." Alvin quoted.

"Wow, I think I'll stay on this side then." Brit said, suddenly not eager at all to test those boundaries.

"Now if you'll excuse me for a minute, I'm going to go and get some stuff from the car, I'll be right back, and please stay on this side of the stakes." He pleaded; concern apparent in his gaze as he walked back toward the woods and the surprise he had in the car.

As she waited for Alvin to come back, Britney looked around her and was amazed yet again by the view of the city. She could see every street she had ever walked on and every shop she had ever visited. She could even see her house and her sisters coming home in Jeanettes van. Over to the south, she could make out perfectly the school and the picnic area. In the north though, she saw the Sevilles home and she could even make out the tree that used to hold the swing that she and Alvin had used as kids.

All of a sudden, she heard a snap like a twig being broken underfoot. She spun around expecting to see Alvin coming back from the car with whatever he had gone to get, only to see empty space and a quivering bush, almost as if something had just darted into its branches. Curious about what animal it could have been, she crept towards it slowly, trying to keep her noise down as she tried to sneak up on whatever it was. Just as she got close though, a little rabbit hopped out and almost scared her to death. When it saw who had disturbed it, the little rabbit turned around unconcerned and hopped off back into the woods.

"Yeah, rabbits do that out here." Alvin said right behind her, causing her to squeal a little in surprise.

"When did you get back from the car?" she asked, trying to figure out how he had snuck up on her so quietly.

"I just walked back and I saw you stalking a bush, thought it would be fun to scare you a little." He replied with that mischievous smile of his, "Did I give you too much of a start babe?"

"A little, yeah," she said still waiting for her heart to stop racing so quickly.

"Heh, sorry again babe, I didn't think I'd scare you so much." Alvin said penitently as he spread a blanket out over the grass on the overlook and sat down. When he saw that she was still a little angry at him, he motioned for her to sit down beside him.

Grudgingly, she sat down on the cloth and stretched out to lay back and look at the clouds. It had been so long since she looked at the clouds.

After a few minutes of silence, Britney's eyes began to grow heavy and they slowly started to close, that is, until Alvin stretched out beside her and rested her head on his shoulder. Being that close to him made it impossible for her to relax. In fact, it had the exact opposite effect; his very presence was enough for her to feel energized for anything, well, almost anything.

Susan watched in silence from her spot inside a thick copse of bushes. She had been watching Alvin and Britney for almost half an hour now and they had done nothing. She had at least expected Alvin to have made a move for Britney by now. It was so out of character for him not to that she was worried her efforts at tailing them had been in vain when she saw the very thing she had been waiting for. Alvin's hand had started to move on Britney's back slowly and seductively. Maybe her efforts would be rewarded after all, and she reached slowly into her bag to pull out the camera she had brought especially for this occasion.

Alvin was glad that Britney was asleep when he put his arm around her. Or at least, she looked like she was asleep. It was hard to tell with Britney, she had been in drama class since forever and had gotten so good at it that she could play different emotions on a dime. He only hoped that awake or asleep, she wouldn't mind him wanting her to be closer to him.

As he began to move his hand up and down her back in a soothing rhythm, he felt her sigh. He couldn't help but laugh a little at the sensation of her whole body shuddering with the exhaled breath and making her seem all the more beautiful to him.

"Are you awake there Brit?" He whispered, getting a little nervous about the time and not wanting her to get in trouble for staying out late.

She shifted ever so slightly in his arms until they were facing as she opened her eyes and said quietly, "Yes, I'm awake, but please don't stop. It feels so good to be held by you."

Alvin couldn't believe his ears. Britney, who guarded her emotions and feelings like Fort Knox, had just told him it felt good to be held by him. This was a dream come true for him. After a little debate in his head, he decided to test his luck a little bit.

"Hey babe," he whispered softly, "do you want to feel even better?"

"How would I feel better?" she asked quizzically.

"Well, you know, like this…" he responded as his hand drifted down her back and over the material of the back of her jeans.

Britney gasped a little bit at the sudden come on, but she had to admit that it felt good. She looked at him, blushing like mad as she replied, "Well, that does feel good, but what else do you have?"

This time, Alvin was completely floored by her response. He had tried to cop a feel before and been rejected, but this was a downright invitation. He figured he'd better make the most of it though, and he slipped his free hand down over her front and just inside the bottom of her shirt to rest on her warm stomach.

As he reached under her shirt, the skin underneath his touch began to get goose-bumps from the cool air and the warm touch of his hand. Britney herself was shivering in anticipation.

She had imagined this kind of situation countless times in the shower and lying in bed, wondering when he would get the courage to express his love to her. The actual sensations however, were so much…better.

His hands were playing their way all along her body, but they continued to skate around the very places she wanted him to touch. Perhaps he just needed to know what she had in mind…

And with that thought she reached her hand down under his shirt and groped around for his belt. When she found it, she unbuckled the cold metal and reached a hand inside the denim around his waist. When he figured out what she was doing, she felt his sudden arousal and was glad he finally seemed to get the picture.

"Oh Britney, I didn't know you wanted to go this fast." He groaned as she grabbed his ass and squeezed.

"I want to go faster than this, but not here, I want to take my time with this." She purred in his ear seductively as she took her hand out and pushed herself into a sitting position. She would have him, but later, when they could take their time and it was a more intimate setting. She had the feeling they were being watched out here in the open.

After he rebuckled his pants and got hold of his senses at the sudden stop to the heavy petting they had just done, Alvin took a look at his phone. When he saw the time, he was surprised at the sudden jump in the time and started to gather the blanket together and ushered her back to the car so they could get home. Needless to say, Alvin getting so flustered made Britney laugh and they got in the car and drove off down the hill and back to civilization. Their "fun" would have to wait for at least another day unfortunately.

_**What will happen now dear readers? Stay tuned for the next installment of Getting to Know You. I hope you enjoyed, and as a little warning, the next chapter will be temporarily rated M for mature language, situations, and descriptions. If you have any comments, concerns etc. please send me a message or leave your words on the review page.**_

_**Until then,**_

_**Musicalreader**_


	7. Chapter 6

Getting to Know You

Alvin and Britney's story

Part VI

Susan couldn't believe that she had gotten so close. She had the camera ready and was just waiting for them to screw up. But NO! They had to each suddenly lose the feeling, or whatever the hell happened. No worries though, she would have her blackmail soon enough, and if Britney didn't get the message before, she would as soon as she slipped up and gave into her animal instincts. After all, how long could it take for Alvin or her to finally cross that line given their past reputations as heartbreakers and unusually physical people. No matter, the pictures she already had were surely enough to give her the edge on Alvin's heart. Now all she had to do was find the right time where they could talk in private.

Alvin was so glad that the week was over at last. He had been waiting for Friday to get here so that he could go out on a real date with Britney, and he was going to make sure she never forgot this night. He'd even gone through the trouble of calling in a favor one of his friends owed him just to make sure that everything went perfectly. And besides that, Josh was too preoccupied with his blind date to pester him about their bet.

On the other hand, Britney had never been more nervous. Ever since Monday on the Overlook, she had the strangest feeling that she was being followed, but whenever she turned around to look, she found nothing but air. The thing that had her most nervous though, was the fact that she had no idea what Alvin had planned for their first real date. For all she knew, he had rented a hotel room. If that was the case, he could forget it. She may have a reputation as a loose girl, but the truth was that she had never actually gone beyond second base.

"What's the matter Brit?" Beth asked from her locker next to Britney's.

"Oh, nothing, I'm just a little nervous about my date with Alvin tonight." She answered quietly, her mind on other things.

"Why would you be nervous around Alvin? You guys have been friends for years, you went on a tour around the country with him, and from what you told me, he took you to one of the most beautiful places in town Monday. What are you so nervous about?" Beth asked exasperatedly.

"I don't know," Britney confessed, "I just am a little apprehensive I guess. You know what people say about him, even if he is my best friend, I know the stories about him moving too fast with all the other girls he's gone out with."

"Oh, well if that's all. I can tell you right now to relax. I happen to know for a fact that he spread those rumors by himself to get his rep up with the rest of the football team." Beth stated laughingly, "I know this one girl he went out with for a month, she told me he was a complete gentleman, even when she didn't want him to be."

"Are you serious?!" Britney questioned, wanting to believe it was true, "He's still a virgin?"

"Well let's put it this way, you saw what he looks like naked from the peephole in the locker room right?" Beth asked.

"Yeah…" Britney replied.

"Well if a girl hooked up with that, don't you think she'd be bragging about it for a while?" she finished with a devilish smile.

"Heh, now that you mention it, yeah, anyone who hooked up with him would probably have a glow around them for a week at least." Britney joked, only half serious.

"Well, hey, good luck with your date tonight Hun. Let me know how it went tomorrow ok?" Beth said, shutting her locker and heading out the door for her own date.

"Ok. Good luck with your own man!" Britney called after her, turning back to her own locker to finish collecting her books for the weekend.

When Britney left out the front door, she looked around for Alvin's car to take her home. Instead, her sister Jeanette came up to her and told her that Alvin said he couldn't be there this afternoon, but that he'd be at her house to pick her up at 7 sharp.

"Well that's weird." She said to no one in particular, "Hey Jeanie, how come you aren't at the library like normal?" she asked.

"Oh, well, Simon was home sick today, and I was going to meet him there this afternoon to do some studying for the SAT's this weekend, but since he's not going to be there, I figured I'd take a night off and enjoy myself." Jeanette responded, petering out when she came to the part about Simon being at the library with her.

"Aw, you still haven't told him how you feel?" Brit asked, always happy to offer her little sister dating advice.

"Well, it's not like I don't try," Jeanette responded, climbing into the cab of her truck, "I just always lose my voice when I get his attention and try and vocalize it."

"Hmmm, I think I have an idea Jeanie. I'll help you with this little problem tomorrow ok?" Britney promised her sister, "Don't let me forget that either, but for right now, I need to get ready for MY date tonight."

"Anything I can do to help?" Jeanette asked, always happy to help her sister when it came to romantic ventures.

"Hmmm, not unless you know where Alvin's taking me so I know how to dress." Britney responded.

"Oh but I do!" Jeanette responded enthusiastically, "Simon told me yesterday, but I can't tell you. The only thing I can say is that you don't need anything fancy."

"What!? How the hell did you guys find out?! Did Alvin tell everyone but me?" she glowered; she hated secrets when she didn't know them.

"Calm down, I know where he's taking you, and I can promise you that you'll love it. Just don't wear anything that fancy or you'll feel really stupid." She answered laughing at her sisters confusion and frustration.

When the girls pulled up into their driveway, Britney hopped out of the truck and ran inside to find the perfect outfit. When she had found a cute outfit consisting of a pink t-shirt, sandals, and a light weight miniskirt, she headed into the bathroom to relax a little and get her hair just right. While she soaked in the tub, she picked up her razor thinking that a little shave along her bikini line and under her arms couldn't hurt. After her soak, she climbed out, toweled off, and headed over to the sink to work on her hair. Half an hour with the curling iron later, she emerged from the bathroom with about two hours to get dressed and wait for Alvin to show up.

"Okay thanks Tyler." Alvin said into the phones receiver.

"Uh huh, okay, and you got the right film? You're sure? Alright then dude, I'll see you tonight. Hey, you're sure this is cool with your boss? Alright then, thanks again man." He finished, hanging up.

When he put the phone back on its cradle, he started to take his clothes off to get in the shower for his date. After all, even if nothing happened between them, he wanted to be clean for Britney. He only hoped that Jeanette hadn't told her too much about their date.

As he stepped into the hot water coming out of the shower head, he let his mind wander while his body went on auto pilot and scrubbed the dirt from the day off and the water washed it down the drain. He wandered if she was as excited about their date as he was. He had gone through a lot of trouble to get the reservations made and set up the big surprise, now all that was left was the reveal, and wait to see what she thought of it.

When he was getting dressed a few minutes later in his room, he heard a noise outside of his room, and since Dave would have called his name and Simon was asleep in his room, that left Theodore. Sure enough, when he opened the door, he saw Theo pacing a dent in the carpet, muttering to himself like he always did when he was nervous.

"Can I help you with something Theo?" Alvin asked jokingly, finding the whole scene rather funny.

Theo however, must have been deep in thought, because when Alvin spoke, he jumped, clearly startled by his sudden appearance. When he had recovered a little he said, "Uh, yeah, I need to talk with you for a minute."

"Okay, is the hall good, or do you need to talk in private?" Alvin responded, raising one of his eyebrows in wonder.

"You know what, maybe I should talk to you in your room." He answered nervously.

Alvin invited him inside and when Theo was settled in Alvin's desk chair, he started to speak nervously.

"Well, you know how me and Eleanor are involved?" he asked, struggling to build into something more.

"Uh huh, you guys have done it already haven't you?" Alvin answered, laughing at how he was making his little brother squirm.

"Yeah we've had sex, if that's what you're asking. But the reason I'm talking to you right now isn't to discuss Ellie's and my sex life." He responded quickly, trying to get the whole conversation over as fast as possible.

"Then why did you bring it up?" Alvin asked, this time genuinely curious as to what he wanted to talk about.

"Well, Ellie's making me talk to you about your date tonight. She said that she knows about the rumors involving you." Theo stated, trying to remember what his girlfriend wanted him to say.

"Yeah, and she knows I started those and they don't mean anything right?" Alvin started to say in his defense.

"That's not the point," Theodore interrupted, "The point is, she doesn't want you hurting her sister in the event that you guys get carried away. She told me to give you this in case of emergency. She figured you'd need one apparently, take that how you will…" and as he finished, he fished around in his pocket and pulled out the small foil packet and handed it to his stunned looking brother.

"Uh, Theo, is this what I think it is?" Alvin asked shocked that his little brother would give him one.

"Yeah, it's a condom. She said she'd rather you didn't have to use it, but if it comes down to it, she wants you guys to be safe." And having done what he came in to do, he stood up and left the room in an embarrassed hurry.

Alvin shook off the surprise at what had just happened and finished getting dressed. He had picked out a simple outfit of his usual black jeans, red t-shirt tucked in and with his signature letter A on the front, a studded belt, and to top the whole ensemble off, a black leather vest he had made by hand. When he was sure that he looked and smelled good, he headed down the steps and into the kitchen to let Dave know that he was leaving.

When he pulled up to the Chipettes house twenty minutes later, he was surprised to find that Miss Miller was waiting out on the front porch. As he approached, he realized that she wasn't there to cloud watch.

"Hello Miss Miller." He greeted her politely, "How are you doing? I'm here to pick up Britney."

"I know why you're here, and just let me say this," she began, skipping the formalities, "I know that Eleanor and Theodore are _involved _but make no mistake, my complacency in their relationship does not mean I condone it."

"Okay; and I'm guessing there's more you want to say." Alvin replied as she took a breath in her speech.

"Yes, now as I was saying, I want to make this perfectly clear. I do not condone premarital relations, but seeing as I ultimately have no say in your personal choices, I just want to give you fair warning that if Britney gets pregnant by you, or you hurt her in any way, I will make you pay, dearly." She finished, staring Alvin down intensely so he could fully appreciate the gravity of the situation.

"Yes ma'am. Is there anything more you need to tell me, or can I pick my date up now?" Alvin asked, letting Miss Miller's threat roll off his back.

Obviously not used to this response when she laid down the law, Miss Miller was momentarily unsure of how to reply, soon enough, however, she continued, "Yes, I want both of you back here by Midnight at the latest, and if she's late, I'm holding you accountable."

"No problem Miss Miller. Dave said that he wants me home by quarter after midnight anyway." Alvin replied.

Accepting this response as an agreement, Miss Miller got up from her seat, opened the door, and invited Alvin into the house.

When he walked into the living room, the first thing he noticed was Britney. Now she was beautiful on a normal day, but at that moment, she was radiant. Alvin couldn't even think of his name when he saw her she was so hypnotizing. Thankfully, she didn't notice his momentary lapse in senses.

Britney's face lit up when she saw Alvin walk in. She had always thought of him as handsome, even though he never tried, but at that moment, when their eyes met from across the room, she couldn't help but think that she was one of the luckiest girls on the face of the earth. After staring at each other for a few minutes however, she realized that Miss Miller was standing there watching them.

"Hi Alvin," she began, trying to break the ice

"h-hi Britney…" He replied, stuttering a little bit as he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Are we going to go now?" she asked, trying to prompt him out of his stupor.

"Uh, yes we are, we're going to dinner first, so I hope you haven't already eaten." Alvin answered, finally in control of himself again.

"Good, I'm starved." She said smiling at him, then turning to Miss Miller, "Is there anything else you need to talk to us about mom? Or are you done scaring Alvin for the night?"

"I simply laid down the rules with him," Miss Miller replied, clearly not hearing the sarcasm in Britney's voice, "If I scared him that is not my concern. Now you kids have a good night and stay safe understand?"

"Okay mom, we'll be back before twelve." Britney called out, heading out the door and towards Alvin's car.

Once they were in the car, the awkward air Miss Miller had thrown over them dissipated and the young lovers were once again able to be themselves.

"Man, your mom can be really scary when she wants to be." Alvin commented.

"Sorry about that, she just found out that Ellie and Theo have had sex and she's not in a good mood." Britney apologized.

"Wait, how did she find out?" he asked curiously.

"Well, you know how we found out?" Britney replied.

"Yeah, we found out on the tour when we caught them together in the back of the bus. But how does that…" he trailed off as he realized how Miss Miller had found out.

"Yep, she caught them in a _compromised _spot Wednesday when Theo was over at our house working on a _project_." She answered filling in the blank for him while laughing.

"Damn, did she tell Dave?" Alvin asked, "And does she know that this wasn't the first time for them?"

Britney thought about it for a few seconds and finally responded, "actually, as far as I know, they convinced her that this was their first time, as for Dave, I think your dad already knows they've been doing it for a while."

"What!? That is so not fair, if he thought I was having sex, I'd never get off being grounded until I left the house. How the hell has he not been grounded?" Alvin said confused.

"Well, you know one reason is that you always make trouble." Britney said sarcastically, counting the reasons on her fingers, "Another reason is that they are using protection, and finally, I think he does it just to annoy you."

"Yeah, I'll just bet. Okay, enough about Theo and Ellie; have you been able to help Jeanette with Simon yet?" he asked earnestly.

"No, I tried to get her to leave him a note in his locker, but she got the wrong locker and then she was too scared to tell him to his face." Britney recounted glumly, she knew Alvin was a secret romantic, but she wished that he'd pay attention to her tonight and forget about their siblings for a little while so she could have him to herself.

"Sorry for asking about the others, you must be wondering where I'm taking you for dinner." Alvin said, almost like he had read her mind and saw that she wasn't happy talking about their siblings at the moment.

"It's alright; I just wish you'd stop kidnapping me to these secret dates." She said sarcastically, "First you steal me away to that overlook, and now you're taking me out on a surprise date, and the only hint I have is not to dress extravagantly. Just where are you taking me to Alvin Seville?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." Alvin apologized, smiling sheepishly, "but I can promise you this, you'll love what I have planned. If not, you can do anything you want to me in exchange for your wasted night." He offered, thinking that she would make him take her out for a really expensive night on the town or worse, take him dress shopping with her. That last one was almost cruel, up to five hours of him waiting for her to decide between three dresses and ending up with all three on his card.

"Alright, and if I DO love it, I have to do one thing for you." She replied, clearly doubting that she would enjoy the surprise.

Britney on the other hand had other things in mind in ways of servitude. As her mind ran through all the scenarios of debauchery she hoped he would come up with, she failed to notice that Alvin had pulled into a small roadside parking lot in front of a small diner they had visited once when they were kids and had tried to run away from home. In fact, it wasn't until he stepped out of the car and opened her door for her that she realized that this was where they were eating dinner.

"Uh Alvin, is this really eating?" she asked tentatively.

"Yep, I know it isn't much, but it's halfway to your surprise. And besides, don't you recognize it?"

After staring at the out of the way diner for a few seconds, she said stunned, "Oh my gosh, Alvin, is this the diner we stayed at when we tried to run away in fifth grade?"

"The very one, do you remember why it's so special?" he asked, trying to get her to remember what was so memorable about the diner.

"Isn't this where we kissed for the first time?" she asked, as an image of them sharing an innocent kiss outside the diner when they were younger.

"Nailed it in one babe, come on, we need to eat something before we get to the surprise." And he took her by the hand and led her inside.

As they left the diner an hour later, Britney couldn't help but notice that Alvin looked nervous about something. She had never seen him like this except right before a big game. She wondered what could have him so nervous. Nevertheless, she also couldn't help but wonder where they were going.

Just minutes later, she had her answer as Alvin pulled up into the entrance of The Roadside Drive In Theatre.

"This is the big surprise?" she asked incredulously.

"I know, it doesn't look like much, but trust me, give the movie time to stop and I guarantee, you won't think it's so bad." He replied with a smirk.

After he was done parking in the front row of the empty lot, he got out and went over to the projection booth where a lone figure was standing just out of earshot.

"Dude, you were almost late, what kept you?" Steve asked.

"Sorry man, I got held up at Brit's house, apparently her mom is being a little protective now. Anyways, did you get your hands on the right film?"

"Yeah I got the right one. You're never gonna let me forget the one time I got the videos mixed up are you?"

"Nope, never, now you're sure your boss is alright with us being here while he's out of town? I don't wanna get in trouble." Alvin asked for the umpteenth time that week.

"Dude, I told you at least ten times already, as long as you don't touch the snack bar and you lock everything up before you leave, he doesn't care. Besides, he has you to thank for him even owning this place, remember?" Steve retorted.

"Cool, in that case, you have a good night okay dude. Good luck on your own date." Alvin said as Steve showed him where the film discs were.

"Yeah, yeah, just clean up when you're done." Steve said as he left and got in his car to leave.

When Steve had left, Alvin looked up to see that Britney was standing by the car, waiting for him to go back and join her. So he put the disc in and took the remote from the projection hut and walked back to the car. As he sat down inside however, he saw that Britney was less than pleased.

"So what movie are we watching?" She asked coolly.

"I'll give you a hint if you stop giving me the cold shoulder." Alvin offered.

"Okay," she replied turning to him and putting on her most sincere apology face, "I'm sorry Alvie, will you please tell me what we're going to be watching?"

"We're watching your favorite movie. Now just sit back and relax, I know you love this one because you told everyone during the sleepover last weekend." And so saying, he pushed the play button and waited for her to figure out what the movie was.

Sure enough, barely three seconds into the opening credits, Britney let out a gasp as she realized that they were indeed going to watch her favorite movie, "Oh Alvin, you got Love Actually!? I LOVE that one! Oh thank you so much!"

"I guess this means I don't have to be your slave for a day hunh?" he replied laughing at her reaction.

"Too bad for you, you would have liked what I had planned…" she teased; "Now hush, it's starting."

WARNING, THE FOLLOWING SECTION HAS A TEMPORARY MATURE RATING TO AVOID LEGAL TROUBLE. PLEASE USE DISCRETION WHEN READING THIS SECTION AND KEEP AWAY FROM YOUNGER READERS. THANK YOU. SERIOUSLY, IF YOU'RE UNDER 15, STOP READING NOW AND SKIP AHEAD TO THE NEXT CHAPTER. I DON'T WANT TO GET ANYONE IN TROUBLE. THIS SCENE IS NOT FOR YOU. AGAIN, SORRY.

A little over two hours later, Britney had tears in her eyes and Alvin was watching her, concerned that something was wrong. Had he done something wrong?

"Britney…" he started, leaning towards her cautiously, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine sweetie," she reassured him, laughing through her tears, "I just love this movie so much; it always makes me cry when I see everyone ending up so happy."

"Why? How come you cry when something like that happens?" he asked perplexed, he had after all, only cried in a movie once, and that was because it was a horror movie when he was eight.

"I just always used to wish something like that would happen to me. You know, where a friend becomes something much more. And now, it's finally happened, and I don't know what to do." She replied laughing at her own confusion.

"Well, if you're okay here by yourself, I'm going to go and put everything back right and I'll take you home okay?" he said as he got out and went over to the projector shed.

"Oh Alvin if you only knew…" Britney said to herself, "If you only knew how sweet you are. I'd do anything for you. All you have to do is ask. But I know you won't, maybe that's why I love you so much." And suddenly, an idea popped into her head, if HE wouldn't make the first move, maybe SHE would have to take matters into her own hands. As her plan unfolded in her head, she sat back in the passenger seat and smiled.

As he climbed back into the driver's seat of the car, Alvin noticed that Britney looked different from when he had left. Now instead of tears, she was smiling wickedly at him.

"Why the sudden mood swing Brit?" he asked confused and a little scared.

"I just realized that I loved the surprise, you know what that means don't you?" she asked innocently, though still maintaining the devilish look in her eyes.

"Uh, it means that you have to do one thing for me?" he guessed, clearly having forgotten about their little bet outside the diner.

"Well then, I loved your little surprise, what do you want me to do." She asked seductively, leaning over to show off her assets and hopefully give him ideas.

"Uh, I think I should get you home before your mom starts to get worried." He answered awkwardly.

"Sweetie, you and I both know I don't have to get home until midnight. It takes ten minutes to get there from here, and we have an hour and a half to kill. Now what do you want me to do? And it had better not be boring." she retorted.

"Yeah, uh, I got nothing. Is there anything you want me to say?" he asked.

This was going to be harder than she thought, so she leaned in and whispered into his ear exactly what she wanted, "I want to feel you inside me. But first I want you to kiss me. Then we'll see where to go from there."

Alvin was needless to say, stunned at her forwardness. When he had recovered from his shock though he was emboldened by her request and leaned in to press his lips to hers; as the heat from their breath built, so did their passions. Alvin was straining to take it slow so he didn't do anything that they'd regret. Meanwhile, Britney was trying to force him to go faster before she melted from her arousal.

As she became more enflamed by Alvin's kissing, Britney found herself letting out small moans of pleasure at his touch. As she began to think that she couldn't feel any better, his hand slipped under her shirt and began to move slowly over her back and towards her front leaving a trail of tingling skin in its wake.

As one of his hands was moving slowly and deliberately towards her chest, his other hand was working its way up her thigh towards the one spot she wanted him to touch the most. He hesitated for a minute or so, unsure of whether or not to actually continue, knowing he would not be able to stop if he did, when she broke away from the kiss and moaned out, "Please, Alvin please, just do it before I go insane."

Not being able to ignore such a request, he complied immediately. As his hand continued up the length of her leg, it came to rest with the palm still on her inner thigh. When she felt his finger on the center of her pleasure, she gasped in ecstasy as she felt him slowly rub his fingers up and down the moistened lips of her sex through the material of her underwear.

Alvin had NO idea what he was doing. He had been stunned when she had told him what she wanted, but then she totally floored him by actually following through. He could only fumble blindly as he tried his best to bring her pleasure. He knew he was doing something right, otherwise he was pretty sure that she wouldn't be moaning. As he worked his left hand around her back to undo the clasp for her bra, his right was slowly working her up into a frenzy that he could feel through the material of her lace panties.

When he finally undid the tiny nib of plastic from her back, he could swear he felt her let out a sigh of relief at having been released from the fabric that now fell away at the touch of his wandering hands. As he massaged her breasts and felt her excitement manifest in the tiny points of flesh that turned rock hard at his touch, he was taken aback when Britney told him to stop for a few seconds.

Asking Alvin to stop had been hard for Britney, but it was only temporary as she took her shirt off to get the thin layer of fabric out of the way. When she had stripped down to nothing but her panties, she blushed like crazy, hoping that Alvin would like what he saw. When his jaw dropped, she smiled and started to help him strip as well. When his shirt came off, she was stunned to see his abs in sharp relief and cut as though from stone. Yet when she ran her hand over his front, she felt a very human shiver run through his body. And when she laid her lips to his skin, she could feel the heat surging through his body to one point in particular. As she felt his own arousal becoming more apparent by the second, she decided to tease him a little bit and reached down with one of her hands to unbuckle the belt around his hips.

When the belt was off and his pants were unbuttoned, she reached inside and was shocked to feel his pulsating erection underneath her fingers with only a thin layer of fabric in the way.

"Oh my God Alvin, I knew you were big, but this is incredible." She murmured under her breath.

"I hoped you'd like it. And you know," he said as he tilted her head up to face him, "I really love what I see as well." And with that, he pulled her face up to his and kissed her deeply and passionately.

As their tongues twisted and in each their lips practically sealed together from the pressure, their hands went to work on their bodies. Britney began to work Alvin into a frenzy while he slowly tortured her with his light touches and gentle strokes.

Eventually Britney couldn't take it anymore, "Please, take me however you want, just hurry before I die of anticipation." She begged.

Alvin smiled and answered, "Okay babe, but first, I'm going to have some fun of my own with you." And he smiled so seductively at her when he said it that Britney almost lost herself right then and there.

Alvin felt her skin shiver as he passed his lips fleetingly down her neck as he started his slow descent down her body. And the shivers only increased as he got closer towards her chest. Not wanting to waste a perfect opportunity, he decided to torture her a little and he slowed down as he got closer to her breasts. He continued to flutter small gentle kisses down her flesh until he felt the small points of rock hard flesh under his lips, that's when he stopped the kisses and flicked his tongue out to just lightly taste her. When his tongue made contact, her shivers turned into moans of anticipation and her hands flew up to hold his head, not wanting to let him go and the sensations he brought her.

When he saw that she didn't want him to stop, he smiled inside and continued to suckle gently until she sounded like she was dying her moans were so intense. When she reached a fever pitch, he slipped out of her hold and continued to work his way down her front, stopping only long enough at her stomach to flit his tongue into her navel and watch her squirm at the sensation.

Britney was starting to lose her mind. The sensations she was feeling were so alien and yet so pleasurable that she didn't know what to make of them at first. And each new experience was better than the one before. When he started to lavish her breasts, she thought that nothing could feel better. This was of course, when Alvin reached his goal and he started to peel her underwear off slowly with his teeth. She was suddenly glad that she had decided to shave that night.

When she lay completely bare beneath him, she didn't feel exposed at all. In fact, she felt completely safe underneath his touch. As he pulled the lacy material from around her legs, she felt liberated and free. Surely nothing could feel as nice as this. And as that thought went through her head, Alvin took his hand and brought it up tentatively to the apex of her thighs where her moistened sex lay exposed to his every touch.

Her world almost shattered when gently grazed her most sensitive point with his fingers, completely unhindered by the thin gauze of fabric she had worn before. The sensation could only be described as heavenly. As his fingers slowly worked her into a frenzy of excitement and pleasure, she began to rock her hips back and forth as he brought her closer and closer to her breaking point. Just as she was about to reach her release though, he took his hands away from her and in one swift motion, pulled her up so that she was lying across the seats and knelt between her parted legs looking her in the eyes as if to reassure her. That's when he dipped his head down and taught her a new meaning to the words "Melt in your mouth".

As he slowly began to lavish her with his tongue, she slowly found herself beginning to lose track of everything except for him and her entwined in a moment of pure love mixed with pure lust. As she felt him rasp against her clitoris, her world exploded in a burst of color and feeling, and as she cried out in ecstasy, she groped around for his hair and held him in place for fear that he would stop this divine torture.

When Britney began to scream in pleasure, Alvin felt a flood of warm liquid honey flow into his mouth and as he lapped it up, her cries began to subside into moans and finally heavy panting as her whole body fell back to rest from her orgasm. When she had caught her breath and regained control of her limbs, she looked down at Alvin, still lying with his head on her stomach as he admired her just lying there on the car seats. When he saw her eyes flutter back open, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of satisfaction the likes of which he had never known.

As she rose slowly up on her elbows, she smiled down at Alvin and said, "Wow, I had no idea you could do that. Are you sure you've never been with any other girl?"

"Absolutely, you're my first and I wanted this night to be special, I just never dreamed we'd end up doing this." He replied with that mischievous glint in his eye.

"Well, you know something," she said as she sat up and put her hands around his neck when he also sat up, "you're my first also, and I just feel so bad that you still haven't had your _release_." She told him as she ran her hands over his chest, still amazed that such a perfect guy could be hers alone.

"Is there anything you want me to do for you?" she asked seductively, kissing his chest and working her way up to his neck.

As Alvin fought through the fog she was pulling over his brain he mumbled, "Babe, you can do whatever you want with me, I'm yours." And he shut his eyes as he let the sensations wash over him and lay back as she took control.

When she ran her fingers gently over the skin covering his abs, Britney felt a small shiver run through Alvin's frame. And as her hands started to make their slow descent to her goal, she began to kiss his neck and nibble his flesh with her teeth. When she reached the waist band of his boxers, she could feel his arousal pressing into her hips as she teased him as he had done to her. While she dragged her nails along the outline of his sex, being careful to not actually touch it directly, she felt his breathing speed up and his voice getting raspier as he begged her to stop tormenting him.

"Now why would I want to stop this when we're both having such fun?" she whispered into his ear as she grasped him firmly and began to stroke him slowly through the fabric around his waist.

"Please Brit, I'm begging you, either stop teasing me or just kill me now. Please, I can't take much more of this." He gasped as he felt the hand on his chest slip away and sneak into his boxers and started to scratch softly across his throbbing cock.

Britney was about to lose control, she had planned to torture him as he had done to her only moments before. But she found herself slowly losing control. Sure he hadn't fought back at all, but that only added to her anticipation and her once again rising arousal. When he told her how she was driving him insane, she thought she would lose control completely. As she slipped her hand around his pulsing member though, she felt in control again and resumed tormenting him. Though there was still one more thing to do to him that would make them completely even.

___ Alvin was being tortured with sex, and he was loving every moment of it. When Britney stopped kissing him and released him he thought he had done something wrong. Then he felt her breath moving slowly down his chest and he thought he knew what she had in mind. Sure enough, as she got closer and closer to his hips, she started to kiss him gently and once even darted her tongue out to leave a trail of heat that was gone all too soon. As she got closer and closer to her goal, her breath got heavier and his own pulse was rising at an alarming rate, he wondered if she was as turned on by this as he was, and as much as he wanted to, he resisted the urge to look down and see exactly what she was doing, instead opting to just picture it all in feeling._

___ As Britney drew closer to her target, she could have sworn that she heard Alvin draw breath through his teeth, almost as if what she was doing was too much for him to stand. No matter, if she was able to take it, then so was he, and with that thought she reached to elastic strip of fabric that hid her prize from view. That would have to be fixed. As she pulled his boxers down from his hips, she realized why he was always hunching over in the halls, the size of him alone would have drawn stares if it were seen, then it occurred to her that this was all hers now; and she smiled to herself as her tongue darted out to taste him._

___ As she did, she definitely saw him jump a little in surprise at the unexpected sensation. She couldn't figure out why this would startle him until she realized that he had his eyes closed._

_"__Alvin," she said, backing away from his throbbing member, "Open your eyes, I want you to see this, I want you to watch and see just how much I love you."_

___When he opened his eyes, she smiled seductively at him and went back to work lavishing him with her tongue first on the shaft. Then when he was nice and moist, she moved a little further up and started to flick her tongue across the head. Much to her delight, Alvin's reaction was as comical as it was erotic; when she licked him his head flew back in excitement and tension at holding back. And when she tasted his head, his hands flew up to her hair to hold her in place, almost as if he were afraid that if he let go that it would all be a dream._

___After a few more passes across the tip of his pulsing cock, she braced herself and with one of her hands guided him into her open mouth, which she was amazed to find, could actually fit him. When he was a few inches past her lips, she started to gently suck on him and heard him moan in pleasure. She had to be careful not to hurt him with her teeth though, other than that, she was pleased to see that she could elicit such a strong response from him with such small effort. As she continued to suck, her free hand wandered, as if on its own, to the moisture once again forming in her crotch and began to slowly rub across her clit as she reached her peak along with the man she loved._

___Alvin felt a tension in between his legs but resisted the urge to release the orgasm that had been building inside him since they began their little foray into the carnal pleasures of the flesh. Britney on the other hand, did not seem as concerned with holding back. As she rocked back and forth on the hand that had drifted while she was giving him head, her rhythm became more erratic, and dare he say it, even more pleasurable. As she reached her peak again, she somehow managed to moan around him and the vibrations practically made him blackout from sensation._

___When she finally came down from her own release, she must have realized that he had held back because she glared at him._

_"__Why did you hold back?" she asked, a little miffed._

_"__Well, I wanted to wait until I was wearing protection, that way we stay safe." He replied quietly._

___She thought about that for a few seconds as she lay on top of him and smiled. What had she done to deserve such a nice guy for a boyfriend? Then she pushed herself off of him and sat up suddenly and glared at him angrily._

_"__Wait a second, you brought protection?" she asked with her arms crossed, which looked comical to say the least as she sat across from him, completely nude save her hair which fell over her shoulders and partially shielded her breasts from view._

_"__Well, I didn't plan for anything to happen, if that's why you're mad. I just made a promise to Theo and Ellie that I would bring it, you know, just in case." He said shyly as he realized just how feeble that excuse was._

_"__I don't care about that." She snapped playfully, "I'm miffed that you didn't tell me sooner, we could have had more fun than this if I had known." She finished as she watched understanding dawn on Alvin._

_"__And we can't have fun now why?" he asked, suddenly sounding desperate to be closer to her._

___Britney laughed at how much his train of thought had changed and pointed at the clock on the dash. The small numbers read 11:30 in bright green against the murky dark of the shadows._

_"__That's why silly, I need to be home in a half hour, we still have to put our clothes back on, and then we have to lock up. Does it really sound like we can fit in a good time as well?" she asked with one eyebrow raised inquisitively._

_"__Damn, I guess we should wait for another time then? When we can really take our time and make it memorable?" he questioned hopefully._

___Britney put her hand on his cheek lovingly and said, "Sweetie, you already gave me a lot of good memories tonight, and as much as it pains me to say it, we have to stop or we'll get in huge trouble and we won't get to have a good time ever again." And she pulled away from him and began to put her bra and underwear on as best as she could while still confined inside the car. When they had both pulled their clothes back on as best as they could, Alvin turned the car on and pulled out of the main gate of the drive in and got out to lock up._

___When Alvin crawled back into the driver's seat, Brit smiled at him and gave him a light kiss before they peeled off headed back toward her house with fifteen minutes to spare._

___Susan watched as the car pulled off into the night after her Alvin got done locking the gate. Not that she cared about the rusty old drive in, her only focus was on the couple in the car that was currently speeding away. She gave them a good five minutes head start and then turned her own vehicle on to follow. She would make him hers and hers alone soon. She had the plan, and she had the drive, now all she needed was the opportunity. But with the film she had from tonight, did she want to break them up? She found herself wondering, not for the first time, if what she was doing was right. Maybe they __did____ love each other. almost as soon as the thought took form in her psyche she blotted it out by reminding herself of everything that that harlot had done to corrupt Alvin and found her force of will once again restored._

___TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR YET ANOTHER DRAMA FILLED CHAPTER IN  
__**GETTING TO KNOW YOU CH. VII**____. _

___WILL SUSAN FOLLOW THROUGH ON HER PLAN?_

___WILL SIMON AND JEANETTE FINALLY DISCOVER THEIR FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER?_

___AND WILL OUR LOVERS PLANS FOR LOVE BE FOILED?_

___KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER COMING SOON. _

___PLEASE R&R OR SEND ME A MESSAGE WITH QUESTIONS/COMMENTS AND THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN FOR READING. ___

___Musicalreader 3-18-10_


	8. Chapter 7

Getting to Know You

The Chipmunks and Chipettes story

Part VII

Previously, Britney and Alvin went on their date after getting the third degree from Miss Miller, Miss Miller found out about Theo and Ellie's carnal relationship, and Jeanette was still trying to tell Simon how she felt. Outside their circle, Susan continued to follow Alvin and Britney around and possibly got some footage of them on their date. Now let's zoom in a little bit and see what's happening with Jeanette while her sisters are out of the house the next day…

Jeanette had decided to sleep in this morning, but as usual, she was a creature of habit and couldn't keep her eyes closed for more than a couple hours later than normal. When she finally decided to get out of bed, she padded her way across the carpeting on her floor and across the hall to the bathroom. After her morning routine of a shower, brushing her teeth and hair, and getting dressed in her usual combination of purple skirt and white t-shirt, she headed downstairs to get something.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw a note on the table telling her that her sisters had gone out for the day with their boyfriends and Miss Miller was out of town working with Dave and the kid's agent. It also let her know that Simon was still sick and was now running a fever of 102 and that she was supposed to go over to the Chipmunks house and stay with him until one of his brothers could come and take over.

"Aw, he's still sick," Jeanette said to the empty kitchen as she thought about what she could do with him for a few hours at his house.

After she ate a quick breakfast of toast with jelly and grabbed can of double shot espresso from the fridge, she gathered up her books and headed to her truck to head over to the Chipmunks house. When she arrived, she was surprised to see Simon sitting outside on the porch swing, as she got closer; she saw that he was still in his pajama pants and just a thin shirt on. Not only that, but he was also somehow unconscious. She sighed quietly as she looked at him and saw that even asleep, he maintained that concentrated look of intense scrutiny that had first captured her interest when they were still in grade school.

As she admired his subtle masculinity and the way his chin stood out with a proud air regardless of what others thought of him, she realized that he was probably freezing sitting out here with nothing to keep him protected from the elements, and it was with a slightly heavy heart that she reached over to him and shook him gently awake.

When Simon opened his eyes, he thought he was seeing things, he could have sworn that for a minute he saw Jeanette's beauteous face surrounded by a ring of light, just like an old time stained glass window in a cathedral. Just as he was about to say something that had been on his mind for a while though, he realized that it was not, in fact, a dream. When he figured this out, he felt his face burn as he blushed and he remembered what he was doing outside in the first place.

"Simon…are you ok?" Jeanette asked softly, reaching out to feel his cheek with the back of her hand.

"Uh, yeah, what are you doing here?" he responded, completely at a loss for words.

"Well, Dave and Miss Miller are out of town for a business deal and our siblings are hanging out, so until one or more of them show up, I get to take care of you." She answered smiling at him.

"Okay, well, do you want to come in?" he stammered out, still trying to force his way through the haze after his nap.

"I'd love to." Jeanette said as she helped him up and stood back a little as he unlocked the front door.

"Where are our illustrious siblings anyway?" Simon asked as he sat down on the couch and faced Jeanette as she took a seat in one of the armchairs across from him.

"Well, I can't say for sure where Alvin and Britney went, but I think they may have gone to the studio, as for Theo and Ellie, they're probably at the farmers market, so it looks like we have the morning to ourselves." She said happily, as if this were the best news in the world.

"Well, to be honest," Simon said nervously, he had never been good with talking to girls, especially not ones as beautiful as Jeanette, "I had planned to go to the library today and work on that Psychology project due next week."

"Oh, I see," Jeanette responded sadly, though for the life of him, Simon couldn't figure out why.

"Is something wrong Jeanette?" he asked concerned, "Is there something I can do?"

Jeanette giggled for a second before covering her mouth and looking at Simon in a way that was impossible for him to read. When she saw that he was watching her intensely, she looked in his eyes for all of a second before turning her head and getting up from her spot to pace around the room.

After walking for a few seconds, she turned back to him with the gentle look on her face that he was used to seeing, "You know something Simon?" she asked.

"What?" he answered, starting to feel a little light headed as he tried to stand up slowly.

"You are always so nice, even when I'm supposed to be taking care of you, you always want to make sure that everything is okay with the people you care about." She said in an admiring tone.

Simon had no idea how to respond, partly because what she had said was true and he wasn't sure what one said to a compliment, and partly because he could no longer feel his legs. Suddenly the floor fell out from under him and the last thing he took note of was Jeanette's scent as he fell forward into her embrace as she tried to catch him.

When she saw Simon starting to sway on his feet, Jeanette knew something was up, but it wasn't until he collapsed that she really realized just how fragile he was at the moment. Fortunately for both of them, she was close enough to catch him and he was really light considering how tall he was.

After she shifted his weight so that she could actually support him, she stumbled towards the couch and laid him out as best she could with the dead weight; she put her hand to his forehead and realized that he was still burning up. As she turned around to go down the hall looking for a blanket to keep him warm, she tripped over her shoe laces and fell down on top of him. As she tried to push off of him, his arm reached up and wrapped itself around her frame and held her pinned on top of him. When she looked down she saw that her lips were poised right over his. All she had to do to make her dream come true was lean in. but she couldn't bring herself to do it. It just wouldn't be the same to steal something she had always fantasized about him giving her willingly.

She hated to do it, but she had to get Simon to let go of her so she could take care of him. It took a little effort, but after a few minutes of calling out his name gently and finally resorting to poking him in the side to wake him up, his eyes fluttered open and stared at her incomprehensively as his face grew gradually redder.

After the blackness had engulfed him and his body left him, Simon was overcome by a sudden sense of warmth and a familiar form. Not wanting to be alone, he had reached out with all his strength through the black haze to grab onto the form before it could leave him to the darkness. When he felt the touch of its skin, he knew that whatever it was would not abandon him to the void around him. As he began to relax, he heard someone calling for him, as if in a distant memory, eventually he answered the call of whatever it was and he began to draw closer to a light in the distance. As he came closer to the pinprick of light in the distance, still holding fast to the warmth in his embrace, it grew in intensity and size until he was in the heart of it and began to feel his extremities again gradually, as well as an alien weight on his chest.

As he opened his eyes, he noticed two things, first, that Jeanette was right on top of him, second, that he was holding onto her for dear life. When he realized that he had her pinned down on top of him, he began to blush and try as he might, he couldn't make any coherent words form. When she saw that he was awake though, she didn't seem mad at all about the embrace he still had her in; rather, she seemed almost happy that he was holding her. Even when Simon had released his grip from around her, she didn't get up immediately like he had imagined she would, instead, she shifted her position on top of him and rested her head contentedly on his chest and sighed as she closed her eyes.

"Jeanette?" he asked slowly, still a little groggy from passing out, "Are you alright?"

Jeanette let out a short giggle and looked up into his eyes, "Why do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?" he asked confusedly.

"You always worry about me even when I'm supposed to be taking care of you. Why do you do that?" she repeated, starting to smile a little at his confusion.

"I…don't know," he answered, thinking hard about the real reason and trying for all he was worth to not tell her the truth; that most secret of secrets had to be guarded lest he lose her friendship totally.

"Oh…" she sighed and put her head back on his chest which was now rising and falling more erratically as his heart rate shot up at an unimaginable pace.

Jeanette had been hoping for a better answer than "I don't know" from the smartest kid in their school. So she was understandably disappointed when that was all she got in response to what she considered obvious flirtations. What did she have to do to get a rise out of him? Did she have to practically do a musical number for him to get it? Then as she rested her head on his chest, she felt his pulse rise and his breathing getting more erratic. She jumped off of him, afraid that he was going to have another fainting spell, but all that she saw was his face turning a bright shade of crimson again. Since she was up though, she figured that she may as well get something to entertain them until lunch.

"What do you want to do today Simon?" she asked the feverish Chipmunk.

"Uh, I don't know, do you want to watch a movie?" he responded, his coloring gradually going back to normal.

"Alright then, let's watch a movie!" she answered excitedly, "But first, you need to take whatever medicine they left you home with." And after she gave him the pills she ran out of the room to try and find a good movie for them to watch.

As she rounded the corner at the top of the steps, she realized that for all the time she had been in their house, she had no idea where they kept their DVD's. She walked back into the living room hanging her head in embarrassment and shyly asked Simon if he could help her find the movies. After laughing for a few seconds, he got up off the couch and led her up the stairs until they stood outside the boy's rooms.

"What are you in the mood for?" he asked probingly, as if he didn't already know.

"Romance of course. You know me well enough to not have to ask Simon Seville." She responded sarcastically.

"Ok then, in that case wait right here while I go get the right ones from my room. Just stay right here okay?" He said as he stepped into his room looking nervously over his shoulder, as if he didn't want her to follow.

After a few minutes of waiting in the hall for Simon to come out of his room, Jeanette heard a crash and rushed in to make sure that he was alright. When she entered his room though, she found him kneeling amidst a pile of plastic cases and looking a little flushed. When Simon noticed that she was standing there, he started to scramble to collect the cases and push them back into his closet.

When she looked in his closet, she found a collage of sorts hanging up on the inside, the whole thing was made up of pictures from the kids lives, and more in particular, she noticed that there were an amazing amount of pictures with Simon and her. She realized a few seconds too late though, that Simon had finished putting the cases back in their spot and was now looking at her as if waiting for a response.

When she finally got up the courage to look him in the eyes, she found herself more than a little surprised. All this time she had thought that he didn't notice her, and here he had a collection of pictures saying just the opposite, she didn't know whether to be mad that he kept this from her, or ecstatic that he felt at least a little of what she felt for him every time she saw him.

Simon looked on in awkward silence as Jeanette scrutinized his private collage. He could only hope at this point that she wouldn't be too mad with him or think he was creepy. That collage was in fact the very reason he never let anyone into his room and he especially didn't want Jeanette to see it, but since she had already found it, she may as well see it all. When she looked at him again, he was surprised to see that she had neither disgust, nor hatred, in her eyes. Instead, he saw something new, or at least, something he had never noticed before. It was an emotion he had only seen when Theo and Ellie or Alvin and Britney looked in each others' eyes. Could this be the same look he had fantasized about whenever he had dreamed about them being more than just friends?

"Are you mad?" he asked, still not exactly sure if he was off the hook or not.

"Mad?" she responded exasperatedly, "Simon, why would I be mad at you?"

Then, creeping over to him slowly, she said softly, her face starting to glow red and her eyes dropping down to the floor as she got closer, "You know what I am though? I'm happy Si, in fact, I think I'm so happy I could kiss you, if that's ok with you…"

His heart skipped a beat as he heard her say those words, and for a second, he thought he had fainted again and this was all a dream, but he felt her breath on his, and he could smell her perfume, and he could see his astonished expression in the depths of her eyes, her beautiful violet eyes. And just as he was about to lean in and kiss her, he stepped back and turned away.

"What's wrong?" Jeanette asked worriedly, "Don't you want to kiss me?"

"No, it's not that, I want to kiss you very much, I just don't want you to get sick. Is there something else I can do to show you how I feel?" he responded groggily, the effects of his medicine starting to kick in.

"Well, you can at least tell me how you feel…" she responded, hoping with all her might that he would say what she had always wanted to hear him say.

"Jeanette," he said slowly, trying to get his courage up to say the words that would make them something more or ruin their friendship forever, "I love you; I always have, ever since I saw you sitting in the hall of our elementary school, and I hope you love me too."

As the words came pouring past his lips, Jeanette found herself on Cloud 9, and she lunged forward as tears of joy spilled from her eyes and she hugged him as though he would vanish if she let go for even an instant. After sitting on the floor for who knows how long, simply holding each other like they were the only people in the world, Simon began to get drowsy and they let go of each other, much as it pained them, and walked downstairs back to the living room.

When they reached the couch, Simon collapsed on top of the cushions like they were the most comfortable things in the world and was almost immediately asleep. Jeanette smiled down on him and walked over to the linen closet to get a blanket to cover him up lest he get more sick. When she had him covered with the blanket, she lay down next to him on the couch and was pleased to feel his arm snake around her waist and hold her as she drifted off to sleep in the arms of the man she loved.

Well, did you enjoy that dear reader? We'll revisit these two next time, but what I want to know is this, do you think I should include little interludes like this every now and then? What do you want to see as far as how their relationship plays out? Of course, it would all be a little much to ask of you if I didn't drop at least a little nugget of information for the next chapter. I will tell you this for certain and for sure, Simon will be better the next time these two get time alone and we'll see where that takes them. Also, I will be showing a date between Theo and Ellie as well later on. Finally, in the next chapter, we'll get to see just where exactly our two other couple went off to when they left Jeanette with Simon. Would you like that reader? Please R&R and thank you for your time. Have a nice day and good luck in your own quest for love in this world. I wish you all the best.

Happy Reading,

Musicalreader

PS- I am a registered Beta reader and am looking for something to critique, so if you think you're the next major internet sensation, please, let me know so I might become your first fan and hopefully a great help to your career.


	9. Chapter 8

Getting to Know You

The Chipmunks and Chipettes story

Part IIX

What's happened so far…

Theo had picked Ellie up that morning at eight like they had agreed and driven over to the park for their usual Saturday routine of a walk and ending up at the ice cream parlor. Let's take a look at how things are going now…

"Why do you always get the same thing every time we come here Theo?" Eleanor asked.

"I don't really know, I guess I just like the flavor." He answered absently, his mind still a few miles back on the trail where they had taken a rest and ended up making out behind a wall of rocks. It never ceased to amaze him that for all the time they had been together and the things they had done, she still was able to stun him with a kiss.

For her part, Ellie was also preoccupied, but she was more worried about Simon being left alone with Alvin. She had specifically called him and he had told her that he and Brit would watch Simon until they got back after lunch. Nevertheless, she had a sneaking suspicion that the two of them had skipped out early for a little "personal" time. If that was the case, she could only hope that Jeanette had gotten her note to go and check up on him when she got up.

"Is something the matter Ellie?" Theodore asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"I was just wondering if Alvin and Brit even bothered to stay with your brother is all." She responded, sounding for all the world like a concerned mother, which for all intents and purposes, she was.

"I wouldn't worry about Si if I were you Ellie, he's a big boy and besides, you left Jeanette a not to check on him when she got up right?"

"Yeah, but I'll still be pissed if Brit and Alvin ran off early, who knows what could happen to Simon if they left him alone." She responded exasperated.

"Hey, this is Simon we're talking about right? This is the same brother of mine that can pull an all nighter without realizing it and still be awake for the whole school day the next morning. Trust me Eleanor, Simon can take care of himself feverish or not." Then upon seeing her frustrated look he finished quickly, "but if it makes you feel any better, we can go check up on him as soon as we're done here."

"Thank you Theo." She said, relieved.

They finished their treats in silence and headed out of the shop to get in Theo's car and headed immediately over to the Chipmunks house three miles away. When they pulled into the driveway, the first thing they noticed was the absence of either Britney's or Alvin's car. The second thing they noticed was that in their place was Jeanette's truck.

Theo and Ellie got out of the car quietly and made their way up to the front door. When they reached the red door on the front of the house, Theo took out his key and, taking care to be as quiet as possible, opened the door to the sight of a dark hall. As they made their way inside the entrance, Theo caught a flash of color in the living room, and upon looking in, he saw both Jeanette and Simon passed out on the couch, with Simon's hand around Jeanettes waist no less!

When this strange sight finally registered with Theodore, he motioned for Eleanor to come take a look.

"Do you see what I do Ellie?" he asked stunned.

"I think so, do you see them sleeping on the couch?" she responded sounding as stunned as he felt.

"Yep, so they're really sleeping like that then?"

"I guess so. Should we wake them up?" she asked softly, trying not to disturb them despite part of her wanting to do just that.

"No, let's just leave them like this and go let Alvin and Britney know though." Theo answered.

"Alright, and I want to give them a piece of my mind." She said sounding a little miffed.

So they walked out the door trying to be even more silent then they had been walking in and taking care to lock the door behind them lest someone come in unexpectedly. As they got closer to the car, a smile began to form on Eleanor's face.

"What got you in a good mood so quickly?" Theo asked sarcastically.

"I just realized that I owe Brit and Alvin a thank you." She said turning to him laughing.

"How so?" he asked confused, "Just a minute ago you were going to chew their ear off about leaving Si alone. Now you want to thank them?"

"Well, think about it this way Theo, you remember how we finally admitted our feelings?"

"Yeah, but what does a breakup turned relationship have to do with this?" he asked clearly not getting where she was going with this.

"I mean, sometimes, a bad thing can turn into a good thing. And if those two finally admitted how they feel, then maybe being left alone wasn't such a bad thing in the end." She answered, trying to make sure that he understood.

"Oh, then I guess we do owe them a thank you hunh?" he responded, finally understanding the whole picture.

"Hah hah ha, man Theo you can be so oblivious sometimes." She said teasing him gently.

"Maybe," he retorted, "but would you love me if I wasn't me?"

"Hmmm," she said pretending to think about that prospect seriously before responding with yet another of her wonderful laughs, "I guess not."

As Theo drove them around town aimlessly, Eleanor took out her phone and called Britney to find out where they were. After a few tries, Britney's phone stopped ringing and Ellie heard a slightly out of breath voice pick up and say, "Yes?"

"Where are you Brit?" Ellie asked sounding a little angry again.

"Me and Alvin left Simon a little early to get some things done." She responded trying to sound innocent.

"Uh hunh, listen I need you two to meet me and Theo over in the school parking lot in five minutes, can you guys get there by then?" she asked, clearly not buying her excuse.

"Um, yeah, we can make it, I'll see you guys there in eight."

"Five" Eleanor corrected.

"Fine, five," Britney grumbled, "But this had better be good." And with that she hung up.

"Well?" Theo asked, "The school parking lot?"

"Yeah, and when they show up, I'm going to have a word with those two. Britney's always got her phone in her pocket on vibrate, I think she didn't feel it because she didn't have her pants on."

"Ooooh, that would be funny if you interrupted them." He said theatrically.

"Yeah well, I hope I interrupted them, the nerve of them, leaving Simon alone to go screw around" she grumbled crossing her arms in frustration at the two wild cards in their families and they arrived at the parking lot with time to spare.

Five minutes after they parked the car in the lot, Britney's pink Corvette drove up and parked right next to them. As the dust settled around the car from the gravel, Britney and Alvin climbed out and walked around to Theo's car where they told them what they had seen when they walked into the living room.

"You're kidding!" Britney said excitedly, "Jeanette was sleeping right next to Simon?"

"That's what we saw, but no jumping to conclusions until we ask them what we really saw. The last thing we need to do is kill whatever chances they have of telling each other how they feel." Eleanor said sternly, looking pointedly at Alvin.

"What!?" Alvin asked exasperatedly, "I never ruined a mood in my life!"

"Oh yeah?" Theo piped in, his eyebrow raised, "How about when you guys came back from the concert and joked about us having sex?"

"That was different, you guys should have been more careful. And besides, I was right wasn't I?"

"All that aside, don't spook them, I want to see where this goes." Britney told them.

"So do we go back and check up on them?" Alvin asked.

"Yeah, we do, it's after lunch and me and Theo are supposed to be there now, but before we go, I want a word with you Brit." She said beckoning over to the bench across the lot.

When the girls were out of earshot, Theo turned to Alvin and said, "Dude, how far did you get?"

"Uh, today or last night?" Alvin responded taken aback slightly at his frankness.

"I mean overall. That's what Ellie's asking Brit right now you know, so I'm going to find out one way or another, just figured I'd ask you man to man."

"Well, uh, we got as far overall as oral, and we were going to go further but while I was getting her in the mood, you guys called. I hope you're happy." He responded sounding a little put out.

"Sorry man, but she wanted to talk with you guys and I was driving so I had no control."

"S'cool dude, uh oh, they're coming back, quick, act casual." Alvin said, trying to look like he was sufficiently bored.

When the girls came back, they both looked exceptionally annoyed with each other. after glaring at each other for a few more minutes, Theodore broke the silence and asked if they were going back to the house now.

"I think we should." Alvin voted

"I agree, but no teasing if we interrupt anything is that clear?" Eleanor said shooting daggers at Alvin, probably remembering what had happened when he had teased Theo and her about their first time.

"I promise Ellie, I won't mess with them. I actually want them to be happy." He said, surprising Theo and Eleanor quite a bit.

"Well, in that case, let's go!" Britney called out excitedly heading over to her car and getting in, sending the unmistakable signal that they were going right then.

When the cars pulled up into the driveway ten minutes later, Britney was the first one out followed closely by the others. Theodore pushed his way to the front of the small cluster and unlocked the door while motioning for the others to be quiet. As the door swung in without a sound, Alvin led the group into the entrance to the living room, where Simon and Jeanette had moved from lying down to sitting up laughing at the movie they were watching.

As Simon woke up, he noticed a wonderful scent before he even opened his eyes. Not only that, but he also felt a warmth pressed against his front. When he finally did pry his eyelids apart, he was pleased to see that Jeanette was the cause for both of the wonderful sensations that he had awaken to. For a brief minute, he considered just going back to sleep and continuing to hold her close, but he thought better of it and instead gently nuzzled her on the back of the neck with his lips and murmured against her skin, "Jeanette darling, I think you should wake up now, we still have to watch your movie remember?"

She groaned something about it being too comfortable to move, but Simon would hear none of it, the nap and his medicine had him feeling better already and so he decided to have a little fun with his favorite person in the world. He gently slipped out from under the blanket, pulled his arm from around her waist and hopped over the back of the couch. He then proceeded to walk around to the front and when he saw that she was still asleep, he bent over and picked her up under the arms and knees. When Jeanette felt herself being lifted into the air, she squealed and started to thrash a little bit playfully, but when she opened her eyes finally, he could see that waking her up like this was perfectly fine with her.

When they had both settled down and Jeanette was safely back on the couch, Simon went upstairs to get a movie and when he came back down she was sitting on the couch wrapped in the blanket.

"You know, I'm going to use that now right?" he asked his eyebrow slightly cocked.

"I was hoping you'd be a gentleman and share it" she retorted, putting on her best innocent face and giving him the puppy dog eyes.

Simon's heart almost melted right then and there, but the only hint that he showed was a small smile and sagging his shoulders in defeat. He walked over to the DVD player and opened the tray to insert the disc.

"What are we watching?" Jeanette asked from the couch, scooting over to make room for Simon in the blanket.

"You'll have to wait and see," he teased, "I will say this though, you love this particular movie. In fact, I seem to remember you saying that this was the best movie of that particular year."

"Oh Simon, please tell me!" she begged, leaning forward in anticipation. But it was all for naught as Simon walked back to the couch with the remote and skipped the opening menu and the credits. After a few seconds of the voice over however, Jeanette gasped as she realized which one he had picked out.

"Simon, is this The Princess Diary 2!?" she asked in a hushed tone, lest she miss a minute of her favorite movie.

"Yes, and it took a lot of explaining to Dave when I bought it, now just get comfortable and enjoy the movie silly." He said in reply as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer under the blanket, his embarrassment from earlier completely gone as he realized that she really did love him as much as he loved her.

After the first twenty minutes of the movie, both of our lovers were in fits of laughter as the hilarity of Genovia resounded around the otherwise empty house. As the Disney film continued, Simon got the sense that they were no longer alone in the house and instinctively looked up to see not just his, but Jeanettes siblings standing in the doorway of the living room staring at them. Simon's laughter died in his throat and he hastily tried to make the situation look less improper. As he scrambled to throw the blanket off and put a respectable distance between himself and Jeanette, Jeanette also seemed to notice that they were no longer enjoying a moment of privacy and squealed in surprise at the sudden and unexpected intrusion.

"Uh, hi guys…" Simon said, stumbling a little over the words, "What are you doing home early? I thought you were going to spend the day with Britney and Eleanor."

"Yeah, why are you back so soon?" Jeanette asked awkwardly, "Not that we mind, but shouldn't you be spending this beautiful day out doing whatever?"

"Well, I mind a little." Simon muttered under his breath.

"We actually came home early to see how you guys were getting along." Alvin stated, still staring wide eyed at his brother and Jeanette.

"Jeanette," Britney said, stepping to the front of the small cluster, "Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a minute?"

"Uh, sure?" Jeanette replied uneasily, looking for an instant at Simon, who nodded.

As Jeanette and Britney were in the kitchen, Eleanor sat down in the armchair across from Simon and asked point blank, "Are you and Jeanette going out now?"

The question caught him off guard and it showed by the stunned look on his face as he tried to come up with an acceptable answer, "Uh, sort of… I guess… I don't really know."

"Dude, it's an easy question, did you finally tell her how you felt about her?" Alvin said from the doorway, his arms folded over his chest and a smirk the size of Texas on his smug face.

"yes" Simon said quietly, looking down, his face suddenly bright crimson again.

"Alright! Way to go Simon!" Theodore burst out, having been quiet the whole time up till then, "How'd you do it?" he asked, a light of wonderment in his eyes.

"Well, I was in my room trying to find a movie for us to watch, the cases fell to the floor, and the next thing I know, she's beside me helping to pick them up and she sees that picture collage I have on my closet door." He responded, trying to remember everything up till the nap he had taken with Jeanette.

"And?!" Eleanor asked excitedly, smiling at Simon as she imagined the rest of the story.

"Well, she saw the collage and asked why I had so many pictures of me and her mixed in with the others, and well, I guess it all came out." He finished, leaving the part about the kiss out for fear that Jeanette wanted to keep it a secret.

"What happened next?" Alvin asked, Theo grinning at Simon from behind him.

"We went back downstairs, and we watched the movie." Simon replied, seriously beginning to bet annoyed by his siblings questions, you'd think they had never heard of privacy.

"And when did you guys fall asleep in each other's arms?" Eleanor questioned, not letting him hide a single fact from them.

"You saw that?" he asked, going red in the face again.

"Well, Theo and Ellie did, and then they called me and Brit." Alvin chipped in with a crooked grin.

"Does no one in this group understand privacy?" Simon said exasperatedly while throwing up his arms in frustration.

"Simon?" Jeanette called from the kitchen doorway, motioning for him to follow, "Britney wants to have a word with you."

"Ugh, alright." He responded as he got up from the couch and padded into the tiled room that the Chipmunks used as their kitchen and dining room.

"Simon, I have one question to ask you." Britney started as soon as he sat at the counter.

"Yeah? What is it?" he asked, clearly not intimidated.

"Do you love my sister?" she asked bluntly.

The question caught him off guard and he looked at Jeanette trying to see if this was okay to answer, when she nodded her head slightly, he had all the confirmation he needed.

"Yes, I do, but I also would like you and the others to respect our privacy." He said confidently.

Britney's face turned from stern to smiling so fast that it stumped Simon how a person's face could change that quickly. Then she squealed in delight and ran into the living room, undoubtedly to tell the others. Taking advantage of their solitude, Jeanette leaned in and said,

"I told her you would say that, but she didn't believe me." She told him smiling kindly at him.

"I think she believes me to be emotionless." He stated pointedly.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, she asked me a lot more awkward questions than that." Jeanette said in reply, blushing.

"Like what?" Simon asked, getting a little defensive.

"Well, like what we had done so far, as if she had any right to talk, and then she asked if all this means that we're going out or what, I really don't know and I was hoping you could tell me Simon…" she said, trailing off towards the end.

"Well," Simon started, trying not to blush again, he had been doing that an awful lot lately, "you know now that I love you…"

"Yeah," she answered, filling in the blank.

"And I hope that you love me as well, or else I'm going to look really stupid."

"Simon, you know I love you, I always have, I just didn't want to say it out loud and risk our friendship." Jeanette explained.

"That…is…really strange, I was doing the same thing." He commented before getting back on track, "So if I love you and you love me, do you want to go out?" he asked, still sounding unsure of himself.

"Oh Simon, I'd love to!" Jeanette exclaimed when she realized that those few words made it official. Her excitement also drew the siblings from the other room where the boys started cheering on Simon and the girls ran over to hug Jeanette.

As they were celebrating the newest romance to come out of their group, they heard the front door open and Dave call in, "BOYS!"

"YES DAVE?!" they responded.

"Guess what I got booked for you guys?!" he asked excitedly, clearly not seeing that he had just interrupted something special.

"What is it Dave?" Alvin asked, never one to like surprises.

"I got all six of you booked as guest appearances on Americas Got Talent this Friday afternoon in their studio in LA!" he blurted out, too proud to keep it all inside.

"Sweet!" Theodore and Ellie exclaimed, aside from the food network, AGT was their favorite show.

"What do we get to do Dave?" Britney asked.

"You kids, all six of you, are going to be the guest judges, two of you to a buzzer, and you get to judge an entire shows worth of acts." Dave responded.

"Alright!" the group exclaimed as one, each already knowing who their partners would be for sharing the buzzers.

"And, as an added bonus, you kids get to leave school an hour early to get to the studio and rehearse."

This news got excited looks from Alvin and Britney, as well as disappointed grimaces from Simon and Jeanette. Suddenly Theo burst in, "Hey Dave, that's awesome news, but guess what happened today here?"

"What Theodore?" Dave asked, always amused by his youngest son.

"Jeanette and Simon are going out!" Eleanor butted in, incapable of hiding her own enthusiasm at the fact that her quieter sister had finally landed the boy of her dreams.

"You're kidding!?" Dave exclaimed, taken as much by surprise by this as the kids had been by his news.

"Nope, they're not kidding Dave." Simon admitted, a shy smile starting to crack his usually stoic face as he realized that Jeanette was now all his and he was hers for the first real time that day.

"Well, it looks like I should call Miss Miller and let her know that she has to watch out for all three of her girls now." Dave said jokingly.

Across town, as our heroes are celebrating a great day, Susan was in a dark room set up in her own house as she watched her pictures developing right in front of her. As the image clarified on the drying line, she smiled wickedly, she now had the bait to lure Alvin away from that harlot Britney.

**Did you enjoy that little trip reader? I hope you did. But don't be fooled, just because everything looks like it's going well for now doesn't mean that it will continue, in fact, you might say that this is the calm before the storm. In any event, please R&R and send me a message if you have any requests or questions. The next chapter will have songs so look for the hyperlinks in my profile to get an idea of what might happen. And who knows, some enemies may become friends given the right circumstances, who knows? See you real soon in GtKY Ch. IX**

**Happy Reading,**

musicalreader


	10. Chapter 9

Getting to Know You

The Chipmunks and Chipettes story

Part IX

A week ago, we watched as Simon and Jeanette expressed their feelings for each other and also laughed as they were interrupted from their time together by the prying of their siblings. Next, we observed Dave coming home to tell everyone that they were going to guest judge Americas Got Talent and as we faded out for the week, Susan had finally gotten around to developing the pictures of Alvin and Britney in a "compromising" position. What will happen now that the kids have been hard at work for a week building up to their live broadcast in LA? Let's check and see…

Alvin and Britney were in the back of their second to last period on Friday sweating bullets. The room wasn't hot and they weren't nervous about any grades in particular, they were simply anxious to get out of class early and were now waiting on Dave to call the office and all six of the siblings would get to leave early.

"When was he supposed to call?" Britney asked her boyfriend anxiously.

"He should have made the call ten minutes ago." Alvin replied from his seat across the aisle in the back of the small history classroom on the second floor.

"Well he'd better hurry up or we'll get caught in traffic and then we won't get to practice before the show." She bit back, angrier at Dave than she was at Alvin, well the timing and the fact that he had been working the kids all week after school so that she never had a minute alone with Alvin.

As if waiting for them to give up hope, the loudspeaker crackled to life overhead and the tinny voice of the receptionist called for Alvin, Simon, and Theodore Seville as well as Britney, Jeanette, and Eleanor Miller to report to the office.

Britney and Alvin silently cheered as they gathered up their stuff and left the room to head for Los Angeles. As they ran down the hall, eager to get out of the building they were so eager to escape, they looked at each other and smiled at their luck. Meanwhile, on the other side of the campus, Simon and Jeanette were trudging along in a much more somber manner. They would be missing their favorite classes for this little venture. Jeanette was sad that she would be missing her English class and Simon was disappointed that he was missing his Physics class.

When they came to one of the schools numerous intersections their eyes met and they shared a smile in recognition that no matter what they were missing, it did give them more time together. Simon couldn't believe that it had been just less than a week since they started going out and it still seemed like yesterday when he thought about it. Granted, that was probably due mostly to him being unconscious for about two days as he got better.

"Are you excited?" Jeanette as they walked side by side to the office to check out.

Simon stared off into the distance as he considered his words, "I'm not sure excited is the right word," he started, "I'm happy that we get to guest judge, but I'm kind of ticked that we have to miss some of school for it, in fact, the real reason I'm _excited_ to be doing this is that I get to work with you as a judge."

Jeanette smiled. Most people would think that was a really long sentence with no emotion, but she knew Simon and she knew a compliment when he said it. He just needed to learn how to be more direct.

"Simon…" Jeanette continued as they drew closer to the office and their siblings, "What do you suppose we'll see when we're judging?"

"I don't honestly know, but I would imagine some singing, some dancing, and a lot of crazy stunts." He replied as he imagined the set in LA.

By this time, they had reached the main doors to the office and were instantly confronted by the stern gazes of their older, albeit _**shorter**_, siblings.

"Took you long enough." Britney said looking behind Jeanette and Simon.

"Well, at least you didn't take as long as Theodore and Ellie. They're still coming up from the field." Alvin chipped in.

"They had gym?" Simon asked, looking confused.

"Of course not, they were skipping their study skills class to go make out in the sports shed, it's their one year anniversary you know." Britney said matter of factly.

"WHAT?!" Jeanette said shocked, she had never known her sister to skip class; she would definitely be having words with her later.

"So if they're down on the field, how were they supposed to hear the announcement?" Simon asked, looking more confused than concerned, he had heard of Theo doing crazier stunts after all.

"I texted them to put their clothes back on and get their asses up here ASAP" Alvin answered, still looking down the hall.

As if on cue, their siblings rounded the corner and headed towards the foursome hastily, a little red in the face and their clothes a little askew from what they had looked like that morning, but otherwise the same as ever.

"Alvin, you are an ass hole you know that?" Eleanor said as soon as she was close enough to blitz him out without getting in trouble.

"Yeah, but I'm _the_ ass hole. You can't have a group without one you know." He retorted grinning wickedly.

"Uh, does anyone know how we're getting to the studio?" Jeanette asked from under Simon's arm which had slipped around her shoulder without anyone noticing.

"Oh, that…" Britney said thinking hard for a second, "How did we all get to school this morning?" she asked the group.

"Well, you two took Alvin's car, Theo and Ellie took his van, and I got here in Jeanette's truck." Simon supplied.

"Well, then I guess those are the groups we get to the studio in." Alvin said confidently, "Anyone want to make it interesting?" he inquired looking around expectantly.

"How are you going to make a ride to LA more interesting Alvin?" Simon asked as he directed the group out the door and towards their respective rides in the parking lot.

"Well, since we're all taking different cars to the studio, why not have the last group to arrive has to pay for gas?" he suggested, knowing full well that Simon may be the smartest in the group, but he was also a betting man at heart.

"I have no objection to that. Is this just for the guys though?" Simon answered.

"Nah, if the girls want in, that's cool. So is anyone else interested?" Alvin responded shrugging his shoulders in apathy.

"I like that idea." Britney said.

"Yeah, count me in." Theo said unexpectedly, "what do you think Ellie?"

"I'm cool, you in Jeanette?" she said as she turned to ask her older sister.

"Well, I don't know… I mean, I was saving up some money to go to that writing convention next month, and I know my truck sucks at speed…" Jeanette said hesitantly.

"I'll cover you Jeannie." Simon said confidently as he put his arm around her again and smiled at her to reassure her.

"Then in that case, I'm in." she finally said.

"Cool," Alvin said pulling out his keys, "Now let's get this show on the road, we're already fifteen minutes late!" he finished as he unlocked his doors and hopped in to start up his car.

Barely half a minute later, all three vehicles pulled out of the parking lot and started towards the highway that took them straight to LA…

Things were unusually quiet in Alvin's car. As the others fell behind in the rearview mirror, Alvin turned on the power button only to have it turned off by Britney immediately as it came on.

"Uh, is there something on your mind Brit?" Alvin asked, attuned to her signs of frustration.

"Not really, I'm just pissed." She answered looking out the window as the scenery melted away from trees to the concrete walls that lined the highway.

"Why you pissed?" Alvin asked, a little concerned that he had somehow screwed up.

"It's not anything with you," she said, as if reading his apprehension, "I just am getting sick of Theo and Ellie right now is all."

"Because of the sex thing?" he guessed out loud.

"Yeah, I just hate how they always seem to find time to do it while I look all week for an opportunity and it never shows up." Britney fumed.

"Relax, the way I see it, there are other things we can do, and besides, it's not like we're going to be preoccupied forever, we have to get a day off soon, and when we do…" he said smiling crookedly at her with a seductive twinkle in his eyes as he glanced at her, "I guarantee that I'll make the wait completely, totally, and toe-curlingly, worth it."

Britney smiled as she let her imagination run with that image for a while as Alvin continued to drive. When the silence began to be a little too much for her though, she turned again to her boyfriend and asked him if he had had any trouble with Susan.

"Not really." He replied looking confused at the strange question, "She's the chick that switched your shirt in gym a couple weeks ago right?"

"Yeah, that's her." Brit replied, frowning at the memory of the unfunny prank.

"Now that you mention her, I just remembered why she sounded so familiar. I used to date her." He stated, clearly missing Brit's shocked expression.

"You used to date her?" she asked, sounding understandably angry.

"It wasn't anything big, we went out for a week in eighth grade. She was fucking insane, kept telling people that we were going to be together forever and how any girl that looked at me was going to pay. In fact, I forget what made me agree to go out with her in the first place." He answered getting quieter the longer he talked.

Britney was too stunned to say anything as she realized just how crazy Susan really was.

They drove the last few miles in silence, each left to their own private thoughts and feelings. Finally though, they arrived in the parking lot of the studio to the sight of Jeanette and Simon sitting in the bed of her truck smiling at them as they parked next to them.

"Okay, I give up. How the hell did you guys get here so fast?" Alvin asked as he got out and walked over to his brother and his girlfriend.

"It's called a map Alvin, we used one. You took the long way believe it or not, we took a back road with no lights, no speed limits, and no cops amazingly enough." Simon bragged, grinning from ear to ear right along with Jeanette.

Alvin and Britney glowered for a little bit before realizing that Theo and Ellie were the ones that would have to pay for gas. Suddenly, coming in second didn't seem so bad. Three minutes later, at a quarter to four, Theo's van pulled into the parking spot a few yards away and all four grinned at him and Ellie as they walked over to the group before heading in.

"When you gonna pay up Theo?" Alvin asked obnoxiously.

"Shut up Alvin." Was Theo's only response as they entered the glass doors of the studio front and were directed to broadcast room number 12.

When the kids entered the studio, they were stricken by just how small it was. On TV the set looked so much bigger and they were understandably confused.

"Is this the right room?" Britney asked, saying what they were all thinking.

"I think so," Simon answered, looking at the door again, "Yeah, this is the right place, studio number 12. So where are the people?"

"You got me dude, I guess this is where they show us how to do stuff." Alvin supplied, looking out the studio window as a man with a clipboard and headphones walked towards the door.

When the man entered the room, he looked at the kids, then down at his board, then at the kids again, "You guys the guest hosts?" he asked.

"Uh… yes?" Eleanor responded, sounding unsure of whether or not they actually were.

"You're here for America's Got Talent?" he questioned further, his eyebrow rising slightly.

"Yes, is this the right studio?" Jeanette asked the man.

"Nope, there was a mix up in the schedule printouts. You guys are actually in studio 20 down the hall" he said pointing behind him at the hall he had just come from. As they shuffled out of the room, he added almost as an afterthought, "You should probably run, they're going to need you at least in the room in five minutes, and it takes about eight to walk there." And with that they took off running past all of the smaller broadcast rooms and drew closer to Studio 20.

When they finally reached the doors to the broadcast studio three minutes later, slightly winded from the run, they pushed the double doors open and walked in to the familiar blaze of stage lights and the stage they had seen on television with the red X's hanging overhead like giant blades on a guillotine for the performers that would brave the stage later that same day. As they stared in wonder at the room around them, they were startled by a person behind them coughing to get their attention.

"Hello," he greeted them formally, "You must be the guest judges. If you would, could you please follow me to the makeup rooms; we need to get you all in costume and then we'll run through the routine and we'll teach you how to work the buttons." He instructed as he led them through a side door next to the stage.

Ten minutes later, all six of the kids were wearing new outfits that the studio had picked out for them from wardrobe and they were all powdered up for the glare of the lights that would be shining on them when they gave their verdicts after each performance.

"How cool is this?!" Alvin asked excitedly as he and Brit sat in the center positions and waited for the prompt to come from the cameras to tell them that they were rolling. This would be a live broadcast, so he hoped that they could have a good time of it.

"I know right!" Britney responded, smiling ear to ear in just such a way that she looked like the most beautiful person in the world. Which for Alvin, she was.

"I feel ridiculous." Simon said bluntly, looking at the black silk shirt that the wardrobe department had picked out for him.

"I think it makes you look handsome." Jeanette whispered in his ear as she ran her hand across his chest, completely forgetting that her sisters and their boyfriends were right next to them. Not to mention the fact that the camera crew was getting distracted by the public display of affection.

"Hmmm, not here babe, how about later, after the show?" Simon suggested, much to Alvin and Britney's chagrin, dragging her hand off of him as he grinned wolfishly at Jeanette in her low cut plum dress with a slit running up her right leg almost halfway up her thigh.

"Okay, cool it down people." Theo called down from the other end of the judged table laughing at how much Jeanette and his brother had changed since they started going out, "They're going to be starting the broadcast soon and we don't want Miss Miller and Dave to see that now do we?"

No sooner had he called it than the lights went off and the stage lit up as the intro music played and the audience filed in to take their seats in the back. After the music died down, the MC for the show walked in and announced that their first contestant would be singing a cover of Def Leppard's "Promises".

The guys all sat forward expectantly, they did love Def Leppard after all. But as soon as the first contestant opened his mouth, all six of the kids cringed at the horrible pitch and timing. Alvin and Britney couldn't hit the buzzer fast enough and Simon and Jeanette soon followed. Ellie wouldn't let Theo hit the button for them until she gave the guy a full minute. After that, even her optimism gave out for the man's performance and he was cut off.

Jeanette tried to cheer him up and told him that he was okay, he just wasn't right for the song, but the man's spirit was still crushed a little at his humiliation. Then Simon and Eleanor agreed when they told him that he had a good voice, just not the right tone for Rock, and he cheered up a little bit. In fact, the only one who didn't try and help lift his spirits was Alvin, who just sat there looking bored.

"Alvin, what the hell are you doing?" Britney hissed at him out of the corner of her mouth.

"Someone has to be the bad guy when it comes to the reviews, I figured that this way, at least no one else has to risk their reputation." He answered, sitting back in his chair as if he owned the world.

As the first performer exited the stage, the MC called out the next person and announced that she would be singing "Walk Like an Egyptian" by the Bangles. This time, the guys were unimpressed while the girls sat forward getting a little more excited at the thought of one of their favorite songs. But just like before, they were sadly disappointed with the show the poor girl put on. And just like before, all three X's lit up quickly and the girl was escorted off stage after hearing the half hearted encouragement of the kids.

"I hope that there's at least ONE good performance." Simon whispered to Jeanette who nodded sadly in agreement as the MC called out the third person from backstage.

And so, over the course of fifteen contestants, only three of them made it past the six friends. The first to make it past them was a comedian, the second was a dancer who performed the robot so convincingly that they thought he was an animatronic, and the third was a magician who pulled Alvin in half and put him back together. All of the kids liked that one except for Britney. Finally, one of the five remaining performers decided to mess with the kids a little bit. When it was his turn to go on, he prefaced his performance by pointing out that all of the people who had sang were cut out.

"Now I don't know about the audience, but I thought some of them were very good, and I was just wondering if our judges were being fair." He challenged, looking dead at Alvin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alvin retorted from his seat.

"I was just wondering, you see, I have never seen you six sing live. I was wondering if you CAN in fact sing, or is it all lip synched?" he asked, this time expanding his gaze from the oldest Chipmunk to all six of the friends.

"I'll show you." Alvin replied angrily as him and his friends and siblings started to get agitated by the contestants challenge, "I'll bet you your spot in the next round that we can out sing and outperform you without any prep time. We'll even do one song for each group and one song for our combined groups. What do you say to that?" he challenged.

"I say, let's do it!" the challenger answered, "One song for The Chipmunks, one for The Chipettes, and one for all six together. We let the audience decide. DO YOU WANT THAT?!" he called out to the audience who cheered in return as the MC announced the challenge over the speakers and the kids discussed what sings they would do.

"Alvin, I wish you would ask us before you made these bets" Simon grouched as they discussed their set list.

"Yeah yeah, now what are we gonna sing?" Alvin replied quickly, letting the snide remark roll off his back.

Theo chipped in, "How about the guys do "Bette Davis Eyes?"

"I like that one" Simon admitted, "And we practiced it just yesterday. What are the girls gonna do?" he asked turning to Jeanette.

"Well, we could do "Heartbreaker"" Jeanette replied, looking to her sisters for approval.

"No, we did that one on the tour, we need something we haven't done in public in a while…" Britney replied.

"What about "Heaven Is A Place On Earth"?" Eleanor suggested, to the approval of her siblings.

"But what do we do for the mix piece?" Theo asked, looking around.

"What if we did "Venus"" Britney said.

""Venus"? Are you sure?" Alvin asked, "We haven't done that in a couple of weeks, are you sure?"

"Definitely!" Eleanor answered confidently for the girls.

"Then it looks like we know what we're doing!" Simon said excitedly, "Let's go beat this guy down!"

"Yeah!" the group responded excitedly as they went to the audio person and told him what they would need played. When everything was set up a few minutes later, the kids started the challenge with The Chipettes doing "Heaven Is a Place on Earth". As the opening keys were hit on the recorded keyboard, the women in the crowd cheered and the girls spun around to face them in their signature triangle formation as they sang the first few lines like angels.

"_Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth ?  
Ooh heaven is a place on earth  
They say in heaven love comes first  
We'll make heaven a place on earth  
Ooh heaven is a place on earth"_

And as their words resounded in the studio, Jeanette, Britney, and Eleanor locked eyes with their boyfriends from off stage and they smiled, hoping that they would like the show.

"_When the night falls down  
I wait for you  
And you come around  
And the world's alive  
With the sound of kids  
On the street outside_

When you walk into the room  
You pull me close and we start to move  
And we're spinning with the stars above  
And you lift me up in a wave of love..."

When they heard the lyrics, it hit the guys for the first time just how true they described how they felt when they were alone with their girlfriends.

_"Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth ?  
Ooh heaven is a place on earth  
They say in heaven love comes first  
We'll make heaven a place on earth  
Ooh heaven is a place on earth_

When I feel alone  
I reach for you  
And you bring me home  
When I'm lost at sea  
I hear your voice  
And it carries me

In this world we're just beginning  
To understand the miracle of living  
Baby I was afraid before  
But I'm not afraid anymore

Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth ?  
Ooh heaven is a place on earth  
They say in heaven love comes first  
We'll make heaven a place on earth  
Ooh heaven is a place on earth"

As the last notes of the song died out, the crowd leapt to their feet in applause at the excellent show the girls had put on. And they exited the stage as the boys stepped on to do their solo group piece.

When the boys got on stage, Simon motioned for the audience to quiet down and when he had absolute quiet, he started, _"Her hair is Harlow gold!"_

Then in came Theo,_ "Her lips a sweet surprise."_

And finally Alvin,_ "Her hands are never cold."  
_Then as one, they belted out,_ "She's got Bette Davis eyes"_

As the music continued, they kept singing, each thinking that the song was written specifically for their girl.

"_She'll turn her music on you  
You won't have to think twice  
She's pure as New York snow  
She's got Bette Davis eyes_

And she'll tease you  
She'll unease you  
All the better just to please you  
She's precocious and she knows just what it 

_takes to make a pro blush  
She's got Greta Garbo stand-off sighs  
She's got Bette Davis eyes_

She'll let you take her home  
It whets her appetite  
She'll lay you on her throne  
She's got Bette Davis eyes  
She'll take a tumble on you  
Roll you like you were dice  
Until you come up blue  
She's got Bette Davis eyes

She'll expose you when she snows you  
Off your feet with the crumbs she throws you  
She's ferocious and she knows just what  
It takes to make a pro blush  
All the boys think she's a spy  
She's got Bette Davis eyes  


_And she'll tease you  
She'll unease you  
Just to please you_

_She'll expose you  
When she snows you  
Cause she knows you"_

And to the cheer of the crowd, they belted the last line.

"_She's got Bette Davis eyes!"_

As they finished their song, the girls ran up on stage to get ready for their last set. This time, the parts were split into couples as they sang while dancing in tandem slowly spinning around each other.

The music started in strong and upbeat as the boys began to sing…

"_A Goddess on a mountain top  
Burning like a silver flame  
The summit of beauty and love  
And Venus was her name_

She's got it  
Yeah, baby, she's got it"

And the girls came in,

_"I'm your Venus  
I'm your fire  
At your desire_

_Well, I'm your Venus  
I'm your fire  
At your desire"_

And as one, they sang,

_"Her weapons were her crystal eyes  
Making every man mad  
Black as the dark night she was  
Got what no-one else had_

She's got it  
Yeah, baby, she's got it  
I'm your Venus  
I'm your fire  
At your desire

_Well, I'm your Venus  
I'm your fire  
At your desire_

She's got it  
Yeah, baby, she's got it  
I'm your Venus  
I'm your fire  
At your desire  
Well, I'm your Venus  
I'm your fire  
At your desire

The Goddess on the mountain top  
Burning like a silver flame  
The summit of beauty and love  
And Venus was her name

_Wow !_

She's got it  
Yeah, baby, she's got it

_Well, I'm your Venus  
I'm your fire  
At your desire_

_Well, I'm your Venus  
I'm your fire  
At your desire_

_Yeah, baby, she's got it!" _

And as the lights dimmed and the music got quieter, they trailed off, holding the last note for an astounding amount of time before stopping all at once to let the effect wash over the crowd. When the crowd finally reacted, they stood up and started screaming their lungs out in approval and adulation. Then the challenger walked up on stage and looked straight at them before speaking.

"Hey, I just want to apologize to you guys for all this, I was nervous and a little angry, you see, you already shot down one of my friends and I didn't want to be next. I'll just leave now." He said, his head bowed in shame.

"No you won't, the bet may be off, but I want to see what you got before you throw in the towel." Alvin stated, smiling at the man.

"Well, okay, but it won't be nearly as good as your little show." He replied, looking relieved as he took the mic.

As it turned out, he was very good, and not a single X lit up for his entire rendition of Jessie's Girl. And when he finally put the mic down, the crowd cheered almost as loud as they did for the kids.

"Dude, what's your name again?" Alvin asked leaning over the table slightly.

"My name is Brad, sorry again about earlier." Brad replied.

"Forget it, what I want to know is where you learned to sing." Alvin joked.

"Uh, I'm self taught actually." He said.

"Are you serious?" the kids asked shocked.

"Yeah, I started by singing with the CD player, and then I just decided to try my luck here." Brad explained, suddenly feeling self conscious.

"Well, you did wonderfully." Jeanette told him, "In fact, here's the card of our recording label, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we want you to at least go there and make a demo disc. You're going places."

Her words were greeted by a collective "AWWWW" from the audience and smiles of approval from her siblings and friends.

"Uh, thanks…" Brad answered, stunned and quiet with the shock of being given approval by an established artist.

And with that, he left the stage to the applause of the crowd. The MC then came on and announced that due to the length of time the contest took and the time left they could broadcast, they would continue with the last group next week with a new set of guest judges.

As the kids filed out of the studio almost half an hour later, it was dark and they headed for their cars discussing the show and all the acts they had seen.

"What was your favorite Simon?" Jeanette, asked, her arm and his linked as they walked along the avenues of the parking lot.

"I liked Brad's the best, although seeing only half of Alvin was great too." He joked, pulling her closer and smiling as he looked into her eyes.

"I loved Brad's performance!" Eleanor said enthusiastically, "And he wasn't too bad looking either."

Theo stared at her incredulously until she laughed and assured him that she was just kidding. "We all know you're the only one for me" She said as she pulled him closer for a short kiss that made his expression immediately soften.

"I thought Brad was good too, but the comedian was still my favorite." Britney volunteered, then looked at Alvin and saw that he was distracted with something.

Pulling him over to the side and just slightly away from the group, who kept walking, she asked him what the matter was.

"It's probably nothing, but you know how I scan the crowds to see if anyone familiar is out there?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, she did the same thing after all.

"Well, tonight, I could have sworn that I saw Susan in the audience, it was weird because she was the only person not cheering at all. She just kind of stared at us the whole time."

"What do you want to do?" Brit asked, getting a little concerned.

"I'm going to go back to the studio and ask security if she was actually there, I doubt it was actually her, but I don't want to imagine if she was." He said as he stood up from where they were sitting on the ground and began to walk back to the studio, "And Britney, go get in the car and lock the doors ok? I don't like this feeling."

Britney nodded and ran back to the group as they drew further and further away.

As Alvin came closer to the double doors, he saw a spot of the wall move and thought it was a trick of the light until the same spot came into the light being spilled across the front of the walkway and spoke.

"Hello Alvin, remember me?" she asked menacingly.

"Susan right?" Alvin guessed, hoping he was wrong.

"Well what do you know; you DO remember me, that's sweet." Susan said as she stepped closer, like a tiger stalking its prey in the brush.

"Well, you know, it's hard to forget a psycho, you guys tend to stick around long after people want you to." He retorted, trying to act tough in the hopes that she would back off. No such luck.

"Now Alvin, I'd be nicer to me if I were you, I know you're under HER spell, but I won't hesitate to save you from yourself." Susan replied cryptically, reaching into her bag.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, panicking a little, "and what are you getting out?"

"Oh, you don't have anything to fear from me Alvin, you see, I still love you, I'm just being a little more, I guess you could say proactive in my approach to bringing you back into the light." Susan said as she closed the distance between them.

"What the hell are you saying?" he asked angrily, realizing that she had backed him up into a wall.

"I'm saying, you have a choice, either you ditch Britney and start going out with me again, or these hit the bulletin board at school and the internet." She said with a wicked smile as she fanned some pictures in his face.

Alvin grabbed for them and when he had them in his hands, he was stricken dumb to see that they were pictures of him and Britney in the Drive-In, and there were even some of them at the Lookout, "How the hell did you get these?" he asked, when he finally got his voice back.

"Getting them was easy, you're surprisingly easy to tail, for a celebrity I mean. Now you have two choices, you can give in and take me back, or these go public, and if you think the police are going to help you, I have insurance back at my house that will have you locked up before they even try to go after me. It really is funny the stuff that you can manipulate in Photoshop." Susan smiled cruelly as she watched him agonize over everything she had just revealed.

"Will you at least give me some time to weigh my options?" Alvin pleaded, torn between loyalty to Brit and at the same time, not wanting to compromise her public image.

"Sure, you have until Thursday. That's a little under a week from today, and remember, I have pictures that WILL have you locked away if you go to anyone in an authoritative position." She said as she backed away and walked off into the night.

And Alvin was left alone in the dark to think about what this all meant to Britney, the group, and him.

**There you have it, Susan has made her move and now leaves Alvin with an impossible choice. Just as things were looking good for the first time in a long time for them both, now what will happen for Alvin and Britney? Will they stay together or not? Will Susan's plan succeed? Will they ever be left alone to show each other just how much they trust and love each other? And what will happen for Simon and Jeanette? Will THEY ever find time to unleash the carnal emotions and feelings they are both starting to unlock now that they're happily together? I guess you'll just have to find out next time. Thank you for reading, please review and send a message to me if you have any questions or suggestions. **

**Musicalreader 3-28-10**


	11. Chapter 10

Getting to Know You

The Chipmunks and Chipettes story

Part X

Britney was getting worried. It had been ten minutes and she had sent the others ahead of them to go home and get some rest. Alvin had said that he would be back in a few minutes, but surely it didn't take this long to check with the security guy. Did it? After a few more minutes of silence in the car, she decided to ignore Alvin's instruction and got out to go find him. It wasn't exactly hard to spot him, he was sitting, just sitting with his head in his hands, when she came upon him outside the studio doors.

"Alvin? Hun? Are you okay?" she asked gently, putting her hand on his back and felt tremors running up and down his back. Was he crying?

"I'm fine babe, come here." He said, quietly through his fingers.

Brit sat down on the concrete steps and tried to get closer to him, but he shrunk away from her touch as though her very presence was acid in a wound, "Alvin, tell me what happened." She coaxed softly, "Did you find out if she was here tonight?"

This question and her tone opened up a new wound in Alvin's soul as he started to weep openly, finally leaning on Britney's shoulder for support. She was stunned to see the usually confident leader of the group shaken so deeply. She wasn't sure what had hurt him so much, but she silently vowed to fix whatever it was.

"What happened sweetie?" she continued to ask tenderly, "She was here wasn't she?"

"Yes." Alvin croaked hoarsely, "And as if that wasn't bad enough, she has pictures Brit."

"What pictures?" she asked, scared of what the answer would be.

"She followed us somehow. Last week when we were at the drive-in, she got pictures of us, together." He said, a hollow, defeated, sound in his throat.

"Well, we'll just tell the cops, they'll get the pictures and everything will be alright." Britney said, trying to comfort her suddenly fragile boyfriend.

"No, if we do that, she says she has some doctored photos that will put me away in jail long before they get to the pictures she got of us." He replied, beginning to calm down and get a rein in on his emotions.

"So she has pictures of us, what's she going to do? Post them?" Britney questioned, beginning to freak out herself.

Alvin stared out into the darkness around them that had suddenly gotten so much colder. "She said she'd post them online and at school if I didn't do what she said." he said robotically.

"What did she say to do?" Britney asked, this time hitting full on panic mode.

"She gave _us_ two choices, either we break up and I go out with her, or the photos go public."

When she heard those words, her emotional dam broke and she felt completely washed out as her world with Alvin began to slowly unravel inside her mind.

"I don't know what to do Brit, I don't want to lose you. And at the same time, I don't want those pictures to get out, they could ruin your reputation, not to mention your life." He summed up quietly, speaking more to himself than her.

"Did you already give her an answer?" she asked desperately, hoping for at least a sliver of hope.

"No, she gave us until Thursday to make a decision. But what good does that do other than give us time to wallow in hopelessness?" he responded, sounding as dead to the world as she felt inside.

"There has to be another way." Britney stated, sounding so confident that no one other than her family or Alvin would have been able to tell that she was actually terrified.

They sat in silence before Alvin got up, dusted himself off, held his hand out to Britney to help her up, and started to walk back to the car thinking hard about their situation. As they drove home through the darkness of the night, Alvin was thinking hard about something Simon had told him once. Something about there always being a loophole. He couldn't go to Simon and ask him for help though or else he would know for sure that him and Britney were involved, and he didn't trust him with that information lest he go to Dave.

When they pulled up to the Chipettes house, Alvin still hadn't thought of an idea that could help them out. Suddenly, as he walked Britney up to her front door, an idea hit like him like a bolt of lightning. Turning suddenly to Brit, he asked her if she trusted him.

"Of course I trust you Alvin, why?" she responded

"Because I have an idea that just may help us both out of this and still let us stay together." He said as he kissed her quickly on the lips and ran back to the car as he shouted back, "I'll call you tomorrow and tell you all about it, now get some sleep. I'LL handle Susan."

As he pulled away from her house, she couldn't help but feel a certain pride at the fact that he was once again on top of things. And while she was sure that his plan would work, she had a personal score to settle with Susan. With that last bitter thought, she went inside and up to her room to make some calls to a few friends.

The next day, as Theo and Simon climbed out of bed and went downstairs to get some breakfast. When they walked into the kitchen though, they were shocked to see Alvin up and staring at the phone he had in his hand like he expected it to catch on fire or worst. Not only that, but he was also in the same clothes he had worn the day before.

"Alvin, are you alright?" Simon asked.

"You know something, that's the fourth time I've been asked that in 24 hours. Once form you, once from Britney, and twice from Dave before he went to bed last night." He replied sarcastically, although he never did answer the question.

Theodore got the impression that Alvin had never gone to bed the night before. His hunch was verified as they got closer and saw the purple circles under his eyes, "Oh my god Alvin, sis you ever sleep when you came home?"

"Nope, been up all night trying to get myself to dial this damn number." He replied, glaring angrily at his forearm.

"Uh, do we want to know?" Simon questioned, not wanting to get pulled into another one of Alvin's schemes or pranks.

"Do either of you remember a girl from eighth grade, named Susan?" Alvin asked, ignoring Simon's sarcastic question.

"Yes, she was the first majorly psycho girl you dated for a week right?" Theo guessed, remembering all too well just how mean she had been to him and his weight four years ago.

"Well, as it turns out, she remembered me, a little too well in fact. She is currently trying to blackmail me and Brit into breaking up. I'm going to call her and try and resolve this, but first I have to get my fingers to HIT the FUCKING BUTTONS!" he said, screaming the last few words in a frustrated and sleep deprived state his brothers had never seen him in before.

"Well, is there anything we can do to help?" Theo volunteered.

"Yeah Alvin, are you sure you can do something like this by yourself?" Simon asked, finally sounding concerned.

"I need to do the talking myself, but can one of you help me dial?" Alvin begged, sounding to the world like an infant that had just realized that it couldn't reach the top shelf itself.

So Simon reached over, took the phone, and took a glance at the number written on Alvin's arm to dial. When the dial tone started in, he handed the phone to Alvin and left the room, wanting to give him privacy to do whatever it was he had to do. Theo soon followed as Alvin started to pace around the room, his fingers frantically twitching at his side as he walked in circles, waiting for the ringing to give way to the voice he had come to loathe.

"Hello?" the voice at the other end answered, "Can I help you?"

"I guess you could say that." Alvin responded, seething.

"Ah Alvin, I was wondering when you'd call." Susan answered, her voice dripping like poisoned honey.

"Yeah, big surprise there, listen, I want to make you a deal, for old time's sake." He began, trying to keep in control lest all his planning go south and he was forced to drastic measures.

"Hmmm, maybe, what did you have in mind? Remember though, I am NOT going to give you those pictures." She said, tauntingly.

"Okay then, how about this. You think I've been seduced by Britney, I think you're a psychotic bitch, so why don't we just meet up somewhere and see if we can work something out?" he offered.

"No deal, even if you hadn't insulted me, I don't deal except in one thing and one thing only. And since you obviously don't want to go out with me, then I guess I have no choice but to release those pictures." She replied as her voice got fainter, giving the impression that she was hanging up.

"WAIT!" Alvin shouted, "Wait. Are you still there?"

"Yes I'm still here. Now what do you want?" Susan asked.

"Since you don't want to talk this out, how about this; we make a bet." Alvin suggested.

"What kind of bet?" Susan asked, intrigued.

"One date of your choice. Just you and me, however long you want it to last. And if you get me to kiss you by the end, you can do what you want with the pictures. If not, you have to destroy them, master copies and all." He offered.

"Hmmm, that is interesting, but I still like my choices better, and it's not like you're in any position to negotiate." She answered coldly.

"Oh yeah?" he asked incredulously, "I seem to remember that you were quite the romantic four years ago. Or at least, part of you was. I think that deep down, you'd much rather prefer my approach to your desires rather than the whole blackmail game." He taunted.

Susan couldn't believe what she was hearing. He remembered stuff about her; that clinched it, he was destined to be hers. She would be crazy not to take the offer. But part of her was still unsure about the whole deal of blackmail, even if it got her a kiss from Alvin.

"Susan? Are you still there?" Alvin asked again.

"Yes I am, and you know what, I feel like I can easily get you to see things my way. Next Friday night, you and I are going to go for a little trip and I'm going to say that it will last until midnight. If I can get you to kiss me then I WILL publish those pictures, if not, then I'll give you the master copies as well as all the hard copies." She answered, sounding callous even to herself. She didn't hate Britney; she just had to be destroyed for Susan and Alvin to be happy.

"Done" Alvin answered, and hung up.

She could not believe that she actually had a date with Alvin! Her dream was coming true. Sure she felt bad for Britney, but only in so much as you feel bad for a stray dog. When she had put her own phone back on its jack, she went up to her room and pulled out the collection of pictures she had snapped of them together. There were only about ten altogether that she could release that would have the desired effect, but there were many more that were just moments of time when they had been looking at each other.

Her favorite was the one she had taken when they were at the overhang on the side of the mountain. Alvin looked so at peace with the world, so unlike when he was at school. She found herself wondering not for the first time if maybe he WAS happier with Britney? Then she pushed the thought out of her head. Surely he would be happier with her than he was with Britney. Wouldn't he?

"Maybe I should just destroy the pictures." She said to the empty room. She only wanted him to be happy, if being with someone other than her made him happy, maybe she should just leave him alone. He had after all, looked completely broken up when he had seen some of the pictures she had. Or had that been guilt? It was a good thing that she had until Friday to figure out her _**own**_ emotions before she tried to tackle _**his**_.

He couldn't believe that he had just agreed to go on a date with that bitch. But if it saved Britney's reputation, he'd go through a lot worse. All he had to do was keep from kissing her and they would be home free, not that that would be challenging in the slightest, but he didn't trust her at all. But when it was over, he could try and talk things over with Susan so that this sort of thing would never happen again. Now all he had left to do was try and explain all this to Britney. Before that though, he had to get some sleep. The night of no sleep was starting to get to him. But before he passed out on his comforter, he called her phone and left a message to call im or come to the house when she got it.

12 HOURS EARLIER:

When Britney walked in the door, she was confronted by her sisters in the hall about why she was so late following them home.

"Britney, if Theo and I can from fooling around on our anniversary, I'm pretty sure that you and Alvin can show some restraint." Eleanor chided.

"I'm sorry that I'm so late guys, but I wasn't "fooling" around with Alvin" Britney retorted, still upset from what had happened at the studio just minutes ago.

"Well then, why are you late?" Jeanette asked concerned, Britney was after all, only ever late because of something bad or something involving a guy.

"I'm late because of that bitch Susan." Britney said, her eyes getting red from the effort of holding back the tears.

By this time, she had already told her sisters about Susan, and they figured that something serious had gone down at the studio, so they instantly changed their tone to a gentler one.

"What did she do Britney?" Eleanor asked, sounding just like a mother with an injured child.

"She…" Britney started, choking up a little and sitting down on the steps in the hall, "She got some pictures."

"Not the kind of pictures we had to deal with last year, right?" Jeanette asked hesitantly, hoping that they would not have a repeat of their US tour.

"No, those were fake. These are ones she took of me and Alvin on our date." She answered quietly.

"Were they that bad?" Eleanor pried, trying to get her usually in control sister to open up to them.

"Kind of, I never saw them myself, but Alvin was pretty shaken up. She wants him to either…to…" and she degenerated into a fit of weeping into the arms of her sisters who had helped her with so much.

"It's okay, it's okay…" Jeanette comforted as Eleanor got up to make Britney a cup of tea.

When she had taken a sip of the tea and calmed down a little bit more, Britney continued, "she says that if Alvin doesn't break up with me to go out with her, that she'll post the pictures on the internet and at school. So now if he stays with me, I know he loves me no matter what happens, but my reputation is ruined."

"And if he breaks up with you, it shows that he'll do anything to protect you." Jeanette finished, "No matter what he chooses, you both lose." She summed up quietly.

"That BITCH!" Eleanor raged on the other side of the kitchen, "Why don't we go to the police? They'll definitely help with something like this."

"We can't, she says that she has some shopped photos that will put Alvin in jail before the cops even get to questioning her." Britney answered miserably.

"Well, what's Alvin going to do?" Jeanette asked hoping to hear at least a sliver of good news.

"When he drove me home, he was silent the entire time, then when he was walking me up to the front door, he suddenly asked me if I trusted him." Britney stated, thinking back to just moments ago.

"Well, do you trust him?" Eleanor inquired.

"Of course I do, but I also know what kinds of trouble his plans can cause." She said, laughing bitterly at all the trouble Alvin's schemes had caused over the years.

"So what are YOU going to do?" Eleanor responded.

"I'm going to call some friends and see what they say. I know a few of them have had issues with her in the past, maybe I can learn something about her." She responded, sounding remarkably calm given the circumstances and her very recent meltdown.

"Well, just be careful if you decide to do anything okay?" Eleanor cautioned as Britney walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs robotically.

Beth couldn't wait for tonight to start for her. She had a date with her girlfriend and her friends had all had huge days that week, now it was her time. Britney, her best friend in the world, had even gotten on TV and done an excellent performance on one of their favorite shows. It was actually while she was thinking back to the show when her phone rang and the caller ID told her it was none other than Britney.

"Hey there hun, how are you? I saw you on TV and was going to call tomorrow to let you know how things had gone on my date tonight. What's up?" Beth asked excitedly spilling four different thoughts in about ten seconds.

"Hey Beth, I'm not doing so good, do you have a minute?" Britney responded on her end sounding absolutely miserable.

"Sure I have some time, Jesse isn't supposed to get here for another half hour anyway, now tell me what happened. Does it involve Alvin?" she guessed.

"Kind of," Britney said quietly, "I'm getting really worried, you remember that creepy girl in gym class a few weeks ago?"

"She was that bitch who switched your shirt right? Yeah, I remember her. Don't tell me he's cheating on you with her." She assumed, having heard the rumors about him from some of the other girls.

"No! No, why would you say that?" Britney answered, sounding personally offended.

"Well, you know those rumors about him, and you know my history, however short it was, with guys. I always assume the worst of most of them." Beth confessed awkwardly.

"Well, just so you know, he has never cheated on anyone, I also know for a fact that he's a virgin, despite our attempts otherwise." Britney said, thinking momentarily that if her and Alvin's _**problem**_ wasn't fixed soon; they would never hear the end of the cruel rumors.

"Well, then what's happened sweetie?" Beth asked, confused about why she was calling.

"Susan, the girl who switched my shirt, she went too far. After the show tonight, she got Alvin alone and she ended up blackmailing both of us." Britney said, choking up a little as she spoke.

"How the hell did she blackmail both of you?!" Beth asked shocked.

"She got pictures of us, I don't know how, and I never even saw what they were of, but they scared the hell out of Alvin and he said he had a plan. I just need someone to talk to." Brit poured out.

"Well, you can talk to me all night if you need to sweetie, just give me a second to text Jesse and let her know that we'll wait till tomorrow night ok?" Beth responded sympathetically.

"Okay, and Beth, thanks." She answered, sounding absolutely pitiful.

"No problem hun, now I'll be right back and then we'll keep talking." She promised.

And so it passed that Britney and Beth talked for over three hours and early into the morning hours. When they finally stopped talking, it was only because Britney couldn't stay awake and promised Beth that if anything else came up that she would call. The next morning, when she woke up, she looked at the time and saw that it was almost noon. Not only that, but when she turned on her phone, she saw that she had a message from Alvin. It was short and to the point.

"Brit, it's me Alvin, listen I need you to call me as soon as you get this, I need to talk to you. If I don't answer, come to my house. I love you."

Britney immediately called his cell number, and when it didn't answer, she called his house number and got the answering machine. She hung up and tried again only to get the machine a second time. By this point she was panicking a little, Alvin always had his phone on and there was always someone at their house to answer the phone. So she rushed out to her car and drove over to the Seville's house a few miles away.

There was no answer when she knocked, and the lights were off inside, nevertheless, she knew where they stored their spare key and walked inside to the quiet of the abandoned front hall. When she looked around, she saw a note on the table in the kitchen, it read, "Alvin, me and Theo went out to see the girls at the park, and Dave is out at the food store picking up some stuff and will be back around 1:30. Hope you got some sleep. Simon"

When she was done reading the note, she looked up the stairs and saw a light coming from one of the boys rooms. That could only mean that Alvin was here by himself and Theo and Simon had left him in his room. She rushed up the stairs and down the hall to the room with the red A on it. Seeing that it was cracked slightly, she peeked in and saw that Alvin was stretched out on his bed in the same outfit he had performed in the night before. She didn't know what had gone through his head last night to put him in a situation like this but she knew she wasn't going to like it.

As she advanced on the bed with her boyfriend passed out on it, she debated whether or not to wake him up. Then she remembered how urgent he had sounded in his message and decided that she had to do it. So she reached out a hand and gently shook him. As he stirred, he muttered, "No, leave us alone". But she continued to revive him and as his eyes flew open in surprise, he sat up and grabbed hold of her as whatever he had been dreaming about faded from his sight.

Alvin had just had the worst dream he could ever remember, he had been in a room with two doors and no way out except to choose one. There had been a voice taunting him as he agonized over which to open. The voice had told him that one revealed the way out, and the other way opened to a creature that would devour him whole. After freaking out for what felt like an eternity, he eventually roared in frustration and fury and broke through the wall between the doors to stumble into a small, dark room with a lone figure sitting tied to a chair in the center. As he grew closer to the captive, he saw the sad and weary face of none other than Britney, her mouth gagged and fear lit in her eyes with the intensity of a lighthouse. When he saw her sitting there, looking for all intents on the brink of death, he tried to run forward to free her but found his feet stuck up to the calf in the solid concrete of the floor. When he panicked and thrashed, trying to undo his feet from the rock, he looked in defeat at the frail form of his girlfriend and watched in horror as yet another figure stepped forth from the shadows and joined the macabre situation unfolding. After looking at Alvin and Britney slowly and seeing that he was trying to reach her, the shade grinned maliciously and drew what appeared to be a long sliver of light from it's side. Alvin realized too late that it was not light that the demon drew, it was in fact, a long silver blade that it now held to Britney's throat and looked once more into Alvin's eyes as it flicked it's wrist and the blade bit into the skin of her throat and her blood fell to the ground in rich crimson drops. All he could do was stare in shock and grief as her life slowly ebbed from her slumped frame with neither of them able to speak final words of goodbye or comfort. As the flow of ruby life slowed and finally stopped, the shade drew closer to Alvin, it's blade still out and deadly in its hand. Alvin waited patiently for its bittersweet bite that would at least reunite him and Britney, but it was not to be. For as the demon drew closer, it also sheathed the knife and advanced on him, a crueler fate hinted at him through the soulless black pits that served as the creatures eyes. Just as the shadowy demon was about to embrace him and pull him onto the cold darkness that was the epitome of it's being and permanently destroy any hope he had of seeing Britney again in this life or the next, he became aware of a warmth growing out of the abyss of the room. The warmth spread and soon encompassed the entirety of his being and he began to hear a sweet, melodious voice calling out to him. He found that his legs were freed and the demon could not approach him. As it gnashed its teeth at him from outside the ring of comfort that had enveloped him, he began to rise out of the room and into the ring of light seemingly miles away. As he entered the light, his whole world solidified and he opened his eyes to see Britney leaning over him, concern in her features as she continued to revive him.

Alvin shot up in his bed and grabbed hold of Britney by the shoulders as he fought back tears and stared at her as though she would disappear again into his dreams if he relinquished his grip. Eventually, he realized that he was now awake and that Britney would not evaporate into oblivion. Furthermore, he saw to his immense relief that she was not harmed in the slightest from the condition he had left her in since the night before.

"Oh my god," he gasped, grinning, "Britney." Was all he said as he pulled her in closer and kissed her deeply as the sensation of warmth and comfort flooded his being and he was pleased to feel that she was taken by surprise and slowly melted in his sudden onslaught of emotion and began to reciprocate the intense kiss.

"Alvin," Britney said when they finally came up for air, "I hate to stop, but your message said to come here and that it was important. Was this what I had to come here for? You just wanted to fool around?"

"No, unfortunately, and I doubt you'll be in the mood for that anyway when I tell you this." He preceded, building up his courage to try and convince her that this was the only safe way to proceed with their _**problem**_, "I found a way to get the pictures and I think to get through to Susan." He stated, looking for her reaction.

Britney was shocked to hear that he had a plan already, "Well? What is it Alvin?" she asked, anxious to hear what his plan was.

"I want you to promise first that you won't get mad." Alvin asked

"Why would I get mad? Alvin, am I going to like this?" Brit questioned, getting more and more apprehensive of the plan by the minute.

"Probably not, but I want you to know first that this is the only way that I can protect you and still be with you." He admitted ashamed of what he was about to say.

"Well, as long as I know you love me, and as long as we can stay together, I don't see a down side." Britney told him, the fear subsiding slightly.

"I made a bet with Susan, this morning, she said that she'd let me and you personally destroy the pictures, hard copies and digital, if I go out with her on a date and can keep from kissing her before midnight." He said in a flood of confusion that left Britney washed away for a minute as she processed everything.

When she had put everything he had just said into order in her mind, she turned to him angrily, "So let me get this straight, you expect me to let you go off on a date with this bitch and just hope that you don't kiss her so we can destroy those pictures. What the hell do you expect to accomplish by doing this Alvin? Why the hell would you make this fucking bet without asking me first?" she asked him, getting red in the eyes as she now fought back tears of frustration and hurt.

"Baby, believe me, if there was another way, I would take it, but if I go along with this, you stay safe, I can easily keep from getting physical with her, and this way, I can talk to her and try and figure out why she's doing this and I can convince her to move on, leaving us alone forever." He tried to justify.

"And if she kisses you when you're not expecting it?" she asked, at least partially satisfied as to his motives.

"That won't happen, I remember her from eighth grade. She never makes the first move. All I have to do is zone out and she'll never get that kiss and you and I will be free from her forever." He answered triumphantly.

"Are you sure this is the best idea?" Britney asked, her anger having finally subsided into concern, "Have you talked about this with anyone else?"

"Not yet, but I will." He promised, "As soon as Simon and Theo get home from their dates, I'm going to go over everything with them and see if they can help.

Just then, there came a sound from the front hall of the house as the door swung open and two familiar voices called in, "Alvin? Are you up yet?"

"Showtime." Alvin said as he slid off of the bed and helped Britney up off as well. They stared into each other's eyes for a second as they gathered their courage and walked towards the door and opened it to the scene of Alvin's brothers standing in the entrance looking expectantly in.

"Did you get a good nap Alvin?" Theo asked concernedly.

"Jeanette said to ask you if you needed to talk to us about anything." Simon said, trying to look unsurprised to find Britney and Alvin in the same room together with the door shut.

"Yeah, come in guys, there are some things we need to tell you." Alvin answered as the door open and invited them in. when they were all in, he shut the door and started the story from the beginning.

_**This concludes chapter ten of "Getting to Know You" I hope you enjoyed the trip and want you all to know that as soon as it is written, chapter 11 will be posted. It will pick up after the brothers are informed of the whole Susan mess and will also feature Simon and Jeanette as well as some Theo and Ellie. I hope you will leave me a message or some feedback in the reviews section.**_

_**Happy Reading**_

**musicalreader :D**


	12. Chapter 11

Getting to Know You

The Chipmunks and Chipettes story

Part XI

THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME CONFUSION ABOUT MY CHARACTERS AND HOW THEY LOOK. LET ME SIMOLY STATE THAT ALL CHARACTERS ARE, IN FACT, HUMAN IN APPEARANCE. ALTHOUGH THEY SING AND ACT LIKE THE CARTOON AND CGI CHARACTERS WE KNOW AND LOVE. TO REITERATE, HUMAN APPEARANCE, EVERYTHING ELSE IS THE SAME. EVEN THE VOICES, WHEN THEY SING THAT IS. THANK YOU, NOW FOR THE FEATURE PRESENTATION.

"You want me and Jeanette to do what?!" Simon asked dramatically when he was done hearing Alvin's plan.

"I just want you two to come along to monitor and make sure everything is safe. You guys would be on your own date; we just need some insurance that she won't try anything funny. And besides, isn't it about time that you guys went out for a night? You've been dating for what, two weeks now?" Alvin replied.

"Yeah, but that's beside the pint Alvin." Jeanette said, taking Simon's side in the matter, "You need to talk this out with Susan and try and find some common ground so she'll cooperate." She offered.

"I tried that already." Alvin answered, "All it did was get me in this fucking date with the psycho." He said glumly, staring down at the floor.

"Okay," Simon started after a while of silence, "What exactly are you expecting to happen again?"

"Okay, here's the plan," Alvin started, appearing to perk up instantly, "I go on this date with Susan, but instead of going alone where she could try something, you and Jeanette come along for your own date and keep an eye on things. If stuff goes down you can back me up, and if she leaves the pictures unattended, you can help me steal them and run the hell away."

"Uh-hunh, no to the last part, but okay to the first; if it's okay with Jeanette, I'll go with you." He answered looking to his girlfriend who was staring off into space thinking.

When she came down from wherever she was at, she looked Simon dead in the eyes and said, "As long as you're in, I'll be there too."

"Thanks so much you guys. I don't think I could go through this if you wouldn't be there." Alvin said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"And just what am I supposed to do?" Britney asked in a huff. She hadn't liked the plan but had agreed that it was the only relatively safe way to go.

"I want you to stay at your house with Theo and Ellie." Alvin instructed.

"Whoa, whoa, you say all this like the date you have to go on is tonight. Don't we have a week to figure everything out?" Eleanor asked from the small table in the corner where she was sitting, Theo on the floor at her feet.

"Yeah, what if we want to go out that night?" Theo questioned, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"Well, I would hope that you would want to help your siblings Theo." Alvin answered sarcastically.

"Uh-hunh, and what about all those times we needed you and you weren't there?" Simon pointed out.

"I already made up for the times I missed the school performances, and the pranks, and the spotlight hogging…" Alvin started, building up to a tangent before deciding that he wasn't helping his case.

"In any event, I need you guys to help. This is something I can't do on my own." He finally admitted.

The fact that he had just admitted that he needed help to his brothers and his friends was huge. He was notorious for being the one with the ego. Not to mention the fact that he had never accepted help for anything before. Now he was begging for them to help him. If there was anyone left in the room that was unconvinced before, their opinions settled in his favor after his admission.

"Okay. Count me in." Simon said, grinning at his shorter brother and putting his arm around him protectively.

"Yeah, count me in too." Jeanette chipped in, wrapping her arms around Simon's waist from behind.

"Well, if you are all cool with it, I guess me and Theo can stay in Friday night." Eleanor said from her seat, Theo nodding his head in approval from the floor.

"Are you sure about this though Alvin?" Britney asked hesitantly, getting off the bed to walk closer to him across the carpeting.

"If there was any other way open Brit, I would take it, but this is the only path that doesn't hurt anyone." Alvin said, moving out from under Simon's arm and pulling her close to feel the heat radiating off her petite frame.

When the others saw that they needed a moment, they got up silently and left the room, making sure to close the door behind them so that they would have their privacy.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing by not telling Dave and Miss Miller?" Jeanette asked Simon over lunch on Thursday, just a day before the fateful day.

"Trust me, the crap Alvin puts Dave through at home, he just doesn't need this on his plate. And Miss Miller would kill Britney if she found out what Alvin and Britney had already done." Simon replied.

"Do you think they've, you know, _**done it**_ yet?" Jeanette asked nervously. She was always shy about things like sex, except when she was alone with Simon; then it was like someone threw a switch.

"Nah, though it's not for lack of trying, I just think that their schedules don't allow it. Remember, last week was packed and with everything happening, I don't think they can get in the mood anyway." He answered knowingly, looking off into space through Jeanettes eyes.

"Oh…how do you know all that exactly?" she asked, this time more curious than anything.

"Uh, I may have listened to one of Alvin's phone conversations a couple days ago." He admitted sheepishly.

Jeanette smiled slightly and looked down, sometimes forgetting for a minute or two who exactly was supposed to be the troublemaker in the Chipmunk's family, Simon or Alvin.

When the silence stretched out to several minutes, Simon cleared his throat and asked her if she had heard anything about where exactly the fateful night was supposed to take place at.

"Nothing, and I've tried, you're not the only one listening in on their siblings." She said grinning slightly at his look of surprise.

"Well now, I do believe that was rather sneaky on your part now wasn't it Jeanette?" he taunted, wagging his finger at her playfully while laughing.

While they were in the courtyard laughing to themselves, Alvin and Britney were enjoying a quieter lunch in an abandoned classroom next to their art class next period.

"So have you heard anything yet about where you're going to go?" Britney asked, not showing the anxiety she was feeling about the proximity of the dreaded date to the present.

"Not a peep, she hasn't called the house and I haven't seen her around the halls at school. I think she'll call tonight or tomorrow though. In any case, I know that it starts at eight, so she has to tell me where to go, and when she does, I'm going to make sure that Simon and Jeanette are in the backseat keeping an eye on things." He answered rather wordily by his standards.

Not for the first time, Britney thought about how lucky she was to be who she was. She had wonderful friends, sisters who were the nicest people on the planet, not to mention the fine example of masculinity she had for a boyfriend. Alvin was strong and yet tender, he could be crass around the guys and switch to the caring, gentle soul she knew and admired. But her luck had its downfalls, Susan being but one of them. She had never once mentioned the rumors that were constantly being updated, revamped, and recycled about her and her supposed promiscuity. Those damn things had gotten her sent to the principal's office more than once because she defended her honor the only way she knew how, by punching the person who asked about them and got a little too in her face.

While she was thinking all this to herself, Alvin was similarly going over his life in his head. A habit he had formed when things had been tough during certain tours and he had needed a little reality check and found himself utilizing more and more frequently during the last few weeks. He was glad that Britney had been there with him for it all though, despite the harm he had brought her, he was glad to have someone who knew what it was like to be in his situation. But he wasn't ignorant in the least when it came to the special position she was in. if some guy had blackmailed her into a date, he would have broken him in half. Yet she took it all in stride, he was glad that she could be so strong, even when he was weakening emotionally and physically as the last few nights had left him with a total of four hours of sleep. Every time he shut his eyes, he had the same dream.

Finally not being to stand the silence and the tension so thick you could cut it with razor, Britney surprised Alvin by quickly leaning in and, taking hold of his face with her soft hands, pulling him in for a deep and desperate kiss. She needed that sensation like she had needed air after diving under the water for three minutes.

Alvin started when grabbed hold of him, but when he felt the soft velvety caress of her lips across his own, he melted in her embrace and let her lead the trip down the path of passion she always seemed to elicit from him with the barest of efforts. He got so lost in the senses she awoke in him that when she suddenly pulled away he crashed, quite literally, back to earth. As he got up and dusted himself off from his temporary meeting with the floor, he noticed that Britney's usually reserved face had given way to streaks of tears running in rivulets down the skin of her cheeks.

"Britney…" he began, stepping forward to comfort her from whatever it was that was hurting her, "what's wrong babe? Do you want to talk about it?"

"Alvin, do you have any idea how much you're killing me right now?" she asked, laughing through the now drying tears on her face, "What did I do to deserve you?"

"I don't follow you." He answered, confused as much by her actions as her words

"Do you know why this whole blackmail situation hurts so much Alvin?" she asked, looking at him dead into his deep hazel eyes.

"No, but I'm guessing you're going to tell me." He replied, laughing a little himself as he returned the gaze into the crystal gaze of her icy blue irises.

"I hate it all because, even if it works out, the only one whose status was at risk was yours." She told him quietly.

"What do you mean? If it doesn't work out, then we are both hurt. If it were just me in danger, I wouldn't care. But she threatened you, and that means that I have to stop her at all costs." He responded, holding her close as she listened to his heart beating through his ribcage.

"But if those pictures get out, you could go to jail." She said anxiously.

"So I risk a little jail time, for you babe, it's worth it" He said, grinningly roguishly at her.

"Oh, you just make sure you're careful okay? I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt."  
She told him.

"Hey, you're talking to a guy that flew around the world and survived being a captive of a tribe of cannibals. I think I can handle a date." He assured her as the bell rang to signal the start of fifth period.

Sure enough, just as he had thought, when he got home from school on Thursday, he found a message from Susan on the message machine that outlined exactly when and where they were to meet for the "date" they were going to meet at a small restaurant on the other end of town, and he was supposed to show up no later than 8:10.

"I see that your instructions have arrived Mr. Bond." Simon joked from behind him as he walked in on the tail end of the message.

"Yeah yeah, ha ha, very funny." Alvin responded sarcastically, not in the mood for jokes.

"Now in all seriousness Alvin, I need to know when we're leaving to pick up Jeanette so I can let her know." Simon said.

"Tell her to be ready to leave her house at 7:40, I've been to this restaurant before, it won't take us long to get there from the Chipettes house." Alvin answered, walking up to his room to brood.

When Alvin entered his room, the first thing he did was cross the floor to the phone to call Britney. Now that he knew where they were going to be, he wanted her to know just in case something went wrong.

The phone rang on her end a couple times and she finally answered on the fourth dial tone, "Hello?" she asked.

"Hey Brit, it's me Alvin, just letting you know that she want me to meet her at the little Italian restaurant about six miles from your house. Do you know anything about it?"

"No, but I've eaten there, she can't make a scene there and expect to get away with it, when I was there, this drunk guy three booth over tried to start a fight and these two waiters picked him up and dragged him out. You'll be safe, but you should still bring Simon and Jeanette with you." She answered

"Okay then, hey, you doing alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm holding up fine. And Alvin,"

"Yes?"

"If this all goes well, I've got a surprise for you." She said silkily.

"Okay, well you just keep that to yourself and I'll let you go get some rest, you looked fit to drop like a stone today in class." He joked, wondering what sort of surprise she could be planning.

"You should take your own advice," she teased him, "you looked like death during the slideshow. And we don't want you tired on Saturday if this all goes down like you planned, I can guarantee that you'll want to be rested up." She said, further teasing him before hanging up.

Alvin shook his head as he hung up the phone and muttered to himself, "Girls, one minute they're weepy, the next they're acting stranger than Simon after a messed up experiment."

Nevertheless, he decided to at least try and get some sleep like she had suggested. As his head hit the pillow, his eyes closed of their own volition and he drifted off into the deep, dark, dreamless, sleep of the dead.

He woke up to something poking him awake, "Go away!' he growled, "I just fell asleep!"

"Actually dude, you fell asleep yesterday afternoon. It's Friday morning. Time for school" Simon said, stepping back after Alvin bolted up in bed, looking incredulously at the clock on his nightstand.

"You guys let me sleep through dinner?" he asked, stunned that he had slept that hard and that long.

"Yeah, Theo wanted to wake you up, but Dave told him you must have been exhausted to sleep right after school. It looks like it did you some good though, those bags under your eyes have almost disappeared." Simon summed up, standing back laughing as Alvin got out of bed and grabbed his towel as he rushed into the bathroom to get his shower.

As he let the water flow off his body, Alvin found himself thinking ahead to the date he was supposed to go on that night. What would happen if I skipped out on it? He wondered to himself. He debated back and forth for a while about the pros and cons of going out that night instead of playing sick. Eventually, he realized that he would have to finally bite the bullet and go. Besides, he reasoned, it wasn't like he was doing this alone and without good reason. Simon and Jeanette were going to be there and he was doing it to keep Britney from harm. As he reached this conclusion, someone pounded on the door of the bathroom.

"Alvin!" Dave called in irritably, "Will you hurry up, you guys have to be AT school in twenty minutes and it takes five to drive there."

"Okay dad, I'm finishing up now." Alvin hollered back, used to Dave's intense attitude. It had once scared him when he was little, then he figured out that he only used that tone when he was scared for the kids for one reason or another. In this case, he was scared that they'd be late.

When the guys arrived at school with three minutes to spare, they were pleased to find their girlfriends at their group of lockers. That is until they saw that they were cornered by three of the guys from the lacrosse team.

"So like I was saying, me and my boys here need dates for this little party we're having at my house tonight, and we were wondering if you three would be so kind as to accompany us." The leader of the pack said oily.

"How about you turn around and walk away ass hole." Alvin said, not thinking before he spoke, per usual.

"And what are you going to do about it if I don't pipsqueak?" the greasy kid replied, "The way I see it, it's us three against one mediocre football player, a field athlete, which is a joke by the way, and a geek."

"Well you also forgot about the fact that the girls you're hitting on are with us," Simon butted in, looking suddenly intimidating as he pulled himself up to his full height of 6'3" and sneering menacingly

"Not only that, but our girlfriends are also black-belts. So I suggest you back the fuck off before we floor you." Theo added, looking smug as realization crept into the faces of the three pompous teens and they hurried away before they got hurt.

"Thanks guys, I didn't want to get suspended for kicking their asses." Britney said as her sisters ran into their boyfriends arms.

"Hey no problems" Alvin responded, grinning slyly at Britney as she collected her books for class.

"What were they talking about anyway?" Theo asked Eleanor, "I've never seen those guys before, are they new or something? I thought everyone knew better than to mess with you three since you took out those three perverts freshman year."

"Well, they moved schools recently when they were expelled for sexual harassment." Jeanette supplied.

"Hunh, they must have wanted to get out of this place pretty bad if they tried to make a move on you three." Simon said, mildly impressed at their guts.

"Simon, are you trying to say something about us?" Eleanor challenged jokingly.

"Not at all Eleanor, I just think that we need to keep an eye on those three for a while at least." He answered.

"Whoa there dudes, one problem at a time okay?" Alvin said to the group, "Now does everyone know about tonight?"

"Yes, they all know." Simon replied quickly, not wanting to think about the double date he would have to go on later. He had wanted his first date with Jeanette to be special, not some recon assignment for Alvin.

"I'm a little confused." Theo admitted sheepishly.

"It's easy sweetie," Ellie supplied, "You and me and Britney are going to be at our house tonight while Alvin, Simon, and Jeanette are going to be out on their little "date" with Susan. And Alvin will drop you off at our house when he picks up Jeanette at 7:40."

"Right." Alvin affirmed, smiling at his friends, "What could go wrong with that?" he asked sarcastically.

"Please don't say that Alvin, whenever you say that, something goes wrong." Simon said as his head in his palm in frustration.

"Relax, I got this." Alvin assured everyone as the bell rang for first period and they parted ways in groups of two. Alvin and Ellie going to English, Britney and Simon heading for gym, and Theo and Jeanette headed off to math.

Unfortunately for Alvin, the day's schedule, which normally went at a crawl of a pace, decided to fly by in what felt like an instant, and before he knew it, he was back at the house with nothing to do but steel himself for the night's events. After throwing an outfit together, not too nice, and taking a quick shower, he went to his room to get dressed while Simon and Theo took their turns making themselves presentable for their girlfriends. When they were all ready to leave after having a quick snack, Alvin saw to his dismay that for the first time in his memory, his brothers were better dressed than him.

"Okay, you guys ready?" he asked, scooping his car keys off the side table near the couch.

"Yep, I can't wait." Simon said unenthusiastically.

"Well, I'm ready to go. I'm even bringing a few movies so the girls and I don't get bored." Theo answered.

Alvin sighed, hoping that at least one of them could have come up with a reason to at least be late, "Alright then, let's go." He said dejectedly as he held the door and locked it behind them as they stepped out into the dusky light and headed for the car.

When the troop of guys arrived at the doorstep of the Chipettes house, they were greeted, as usual, by Miss Miller who gave her usual rant about using their heads and staying safe. She also threw in a new part describing in vivid detail what she would do to all three of them if so much as one of her girls ended up pregnant. Theo took the threat in stride, he always used protection after all, but Alvin and Simon were more than a little intimidated by the open threat.

As soon as they had Jeanette in the car and Theodore was waving from the front window, Eleanor hanging onto his shoulder trying to drag him away from the glass so that they could start their small party, Alvin felt more than a little saddened by the reminder that while his brothers would be having at least a decent time tonight, he would be stuck with quite possibly the last person on earth he wanted to be near.

Meanwhile, back at the Chipettes house…

"Britney, what are you still doing here?" Miss Miller questioned.

"Uh, Alvin and I are taking thing a little slower this week and decided to do our own things tonight." She lied, hoping that Miss Miller would buy the unusual excuse.

"Wonderful!" she exclaimed, her matronly face lighting up at her daughters explanation, "I'm glad to see that you are using your brains! At least now I can go back to fretting over just Eleanor now. It was exhausting keeping up with two of you."

"Wait, you were worried about me?" Britney asked.

"But of course. Ever since I found out that Theodore and Ellie were "involved" shall we say; I worry constantly about one of you girls coming home with the news that I'm going to be a grandma." She joked halfheartedly, peeking in the living room at Theo and Ellie, sitting on the couch watching a movie and feeding each other popcorn.

"Oh. But if you were worried about Alvin and me, aren't you worried about Simon and Jeanette?" she asked, continuing to pry into her mother's thought process.

"Well, I worry about them much less than I do Theo and Ellie. I mean, I once asked Jeanette what second base was and she said that it was kissing. I don't think Simon and her are going to get into any trouble for a while at least. Besides, they're both so shy." Miss Miller said almost wistfully.

"Well what did you think of Theo and Ellie when they started going out?" Britney questioned, suddenly becoming intrigued.

"Oh, I thought that they were too young for such things. Luckily, Dave didn't and they were at least prepared. And I will tell you this, at least they are still together, so I know they genuinely love each other. some days I don't know what to make of it all, one minute I see two sweet innocent kids and the next I remember that they aren't innocent anymore." Miss Miller sighed to herself, getting up from the stool she had been sitting on at the counter.

"Where are you going mom?" Britney called after her.

"Oh, I'm just going upstairs sweetie. I'm starting to get tires and figured I'd turn in early. You kids can stay up till the others come home but after that I want you all in bed understood?" she instructed, wagging her finger at Britney playfully, as if she was going to cause trouble.

"Got it, I'll tell the others" she started before being struck by an idea, "Hey mom, since tomorrow is Saturday, can the guys stay the night on the couch if I get Dave to go along with it?"

"Well I don't know dear. I mean, where would you girls sleep?" Miss Miller responded hesitantly.

"We'd sleep in our sleeping bags of course. And there wouldn't be any fooling around either, you'd be upstairs after all right?" she reasoned, trying to get Miss Miller to say yes.

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess if David said okay that I could go along with it…"

"Oh THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!" Britney squealed interrupting her mid sentence.

"BUT," Miss Miller said loudly, trying to regain control of the conversation, "If I so much as suspect that any of you are messing about, I will personally make sure that the parties involved do not see each other outside the walls of school for a very, very long time. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am" Britney answered respectfully, while at the same time skipping out into the living room to give Dave a call.

Susan was standing outside the restaurant when they pulled up to the curb. Her smiling face creeped Alvin out more than any horror movie he had ever seen. Luckily, for Alvin that is, her insane grin fell as soon as Alvin opened the back doors and let his brother and his date out of the car. When she saw that they would not be going solo this evening, he could swear that he actually saw sadness flit across her face. That cheered him up a little inside.

"Hello Alvin," she greeted robotically, then turning to the others, addresses them, "our table is ready but I'll see if I can get another one scooted up to make room.'

"Oh there's no need for that." Simon answered quickly, it was bad enough that he had to come along on this sham of a date when he had planned to make his and Jeanette's first night out together something much more memorable.

"Are you sure?" Susan asked, sounding momentarily both concerned and excited at the thought that she could have a night together with Alvin after all.

"Sure, you two take whatever table you have reserved, Jeanette and I don't mind waiting a little for a seat, do you Jeanette?" he asked looking hopefully at his date, praying that she would go along with it.

"Not at all." Jeanette replied accommodatingly as she seemed to understand Simon's desire for privacy.

"Great!" Susan replied cheerfully, "In that case, let's go find our table Alvin." She instructed, fairly dragging him along into the restaurant.

As they disappeared into the small crowd of people waiting for their tables, Simon couldn't help but chuckle a little out loud as he saw Alvin's expression.

"What's so funny Si?" Jeanette asked, looking up at him a little expectantly

"Nothing," he replied, "It's just that for the longest time, I wore that exact same look whenever Alvin dragged me along somewhere and now I get to see what it looks like on him."

"Oh," was all she said as she thought about that statement for a second, "But don't you also feel a little sad for him and Britney? That something like this would all happen to them?"

"Kind of, but then I remember that they have put the rest of us through hell in the past and I see this as karma getting back at them. You shouldn't worry too much about them though." He told her as he thought about what she had said.

"Why aren't you worried?" she questioned him.

"Because if this is karma, they'll turn out all right, after all, no matter what they put us through, we always came out of it okay." He said confidently

"I guess you're right." Jeanette said smiling a little at his words of encouragement as they themselves went up to the host and ordered a table for two near the more secluded part of the restaurant floor.

"So tell me something Alvin," Susan started, trying to get Alvin to open up a little, "Why did you ask me out in the eighth grade if you just left me two weeks later?"

"Ah shit, are you still mad about that?" Alvin asked irritably, "Is that what this is all about?"

"No, I'm just trying to start a pleasant conversation, I figure that even if you're here unwillingly, we can at least enjoy the night in our own ways. And I prefer a good talk to silence any day, as for the subject, we haven't exactly seen each other much since eighth grade now have we?" she answered smartly.

"Oh," Alvin replied, feeling about as stupid as when Simon tried to explain something to him about school, "well, I guess you could say that I needed space and you were getting too close."

"Ah, so I was too intrusive." She surmised

"Well, that and the fact that you kept telling people that we were going to get married." He continued.

"Yes, sorry about that, I was young and rather, ah, protective." She tried to justify, though her face still turned a little red.

"Well, I'm protective of people too, but I don't freak them out." He retorted, hoping that she would get the hint about Brit.

"I noticed. You always were protective of your siblings." She answered, apparently missing the hint entirely, whether on purpose or not was unimportant.

"Well then, riddle me this," she continued, trying once again to pry Alvin's mind open, "Why did you leave me and now you're going out with Britney?"

"What I do is none of your business, and if it makes any difference, the reason I left you was because you were being highly possessive and creeping me out." He replied coldly.

"Oh come on Alvin, I was acting like that because you were always flirting with the other girls." She reasoned.

"Well, in any case, I'm with Britney and I'm happy now. What about you?" he asked

"Oh, well, after you broke my heart, nobody managed to live up to you and I eventually just gave up dating." Susan answered, put out by the callous way he had asked.

"And you're out here with me tonight why?" Alvin queried, genuinely interested as to what could have got her to become the person she was now.

"Well, about a month ago, I saw you in the hall and I realized that the last time I was truly happy with any guy was when I was with you. That's when I decided that one way or another I would have you to myself again, even if it killed me." She said quietly, realizing for the first time how he could interpret that as possessive and creepy.

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I'm happy with Brit and I don't see us ever going out." Alvin replied, suddenly feeling a little cruel himself

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out when you agreed to go on this date. But that doesn't mean I can't at least spend a night out with you." She said, looking at him hopefully.

"Just as long as you're not expecting anything to come out of this, I don't see the harm in spending an evening with you. But I'm not going to forgive you for what you're doing to Brit." He told her

"I know," she replied sadly, suddenly ashamed of herself as she imagined what it must have been like for them over the last week, "But I have to know, what do you see in her anyway?"

"Well, to be honest," he began, his eyes glazing over as he thought back in his memories, "I guess the first thing I noticed, was that she was a great singer. Then I began to realize how nice she could be, and then finally, I noticed that no matter what happened, she was there to help, even if she had caused it to happen."

"What do you mean?" Susan asked; her expression turning from one of mild guilt to one of apprehension as she began to realize just how deep Alvin and Britney's connection had been. Until she came along

"Well, like, when I would cause trouble or play a prank, I would run away from the consequences or try and brush it all off. Brit would stay and take the punishment and try and make everything better again. I guess I respected that and wished I could be stronger like her. Somewhere down the line, I stopped running and started to fix the stuff I broke, or helped the people I hurt by accident."

Susan's eyes started to tear up as she realized that the boy she loved was actually created by the girl she had come to loathe. She had called Britney a slut and a whore when she hadn't realized just how good of a person she was. Britney had certainly never been openly cruel to her, even after all she had done to hurt her; she had never sought revenge.

"Besides that," Alvin continued, missing the look that was slowly shadowing over Susan's face, "Brit was always there if I needed someone to talk to, she was an example for her sisters while I used to always use my brothers. I guess you could say that Britney is everything that I wanted to be while still being fun and able to take a joke." He summed up.

By this point, Susan had a thin trickle of warm tears running down her face and though she tried to hide them, they were fast becoming apparent to Alvin.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, getting a little concerned, "Are you okay?"

"Why are you doing this?" Susan asked

"I'M doing something? I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm here because of you and your inability to leave things in the past where they belong." He answered angrily, not understanding what she was asking about.

"Not the date, why are you being so fucking nice?" she specified, "Even after everything I've done to you, you still play along, you could have gone to the cops, I never had any pictures and you probably knew that. You could have said no and taken the pictures from me by force, why aren't you giving me what I deserve?"

"Whoa, whoa, first, I didn't know what you did or did not have. Second, you're right, I wanted to do all that stuff and give you your comeuppance, but you know what?" he asked looking her dead in the face, "If I had done any of that stuff, I would have been the bad guy and in the end, it still wouldn't have solved anything. Sure, the immediate threat would have been gone, but ultimately, you would have showed back up, angrier and even more bitter."

"But why are you treating me like I'm worth your time?" she sobbed into her arm as she put her head down on the table.

"Because, no matter what you do to me and Britney, you're still human; still worth the time to at least find out why." He answered

"So you want to know why I did everything?" she asked, her face shifting suddenly from an emotional one to an expression of stone.

"Yeah, that would be nice." He replied

"I did it because I wanted you to notice me okay? I guess part of me wanted you to remember me, or at least forget a little about Britney. Have you seen yourself in the hallways? It's downright sickening how openly you guys are about your affections. Some days it's all I can do not to hurt one of you." She told him angrily, a fire coming to her eyes.

"Chill out Susan, what we had is gone and it's not coming back, and definitely not like this. I love Britney. Plain and simple, if you don't like it, then get out of the school and out of our life."

"I guess I will then," she said, getting up from the table suddenly, throwing down a manila envelope she had hidden in her bag.

"Where are you going?" Alvin asked nervously, he had seen behavior like this before right before one of his friends had tried to kill himself

"Like you care." She said coldly as she grabbed her bag, spun on her heels and started to walk towards the door.

Alvin opened the envelope as she walked towards the door and saw that inside was a gig stick labeled BLACKMAIL as well as several sizes of pictures that had been printed off of a regular home printer. When he saw them there in front of his eyes, he realized that whatever she was going to do, she didn't plan on following through with her plan. And for some reason he couldn't explain, this worried him more than anything.

He got up from his seat and ran towards the Host's stand. On the way, he saw Simon and Jeanette sitting and chatting happily and ran over to drop the small parcel off with them. When they took it hesitantly, he turned around and bolted outside, into the night where he saw Susan sitting in her car with something small that gleamed with a metallic light.

When Simon and Jeanette had sat down at their table, Simon was pleased to see that Alvin and Susan were within sight and outside of hearing range so that they could talk in private.

"So Jeanette, what do you feel like eating tonight?" Simon asked politely.

"I don't really feel like eating, I'm more concerned about Alvin right now. I heard at school today that Susan once tried to attack one of her ex boyfriends. I'm seriously worried about Alvin's safety"

"I heard the same story, but from what I gather, the guy in question had tried to rape her. I say he got what he deserved." Simon replied coldly, it was no secret that he detested the violators of society.

"Oh," Jeanette exclaimed shocked, "Well that's different then, but I still can't shake the feeling that something big is going to happen tonight. I don't like it Simon." she said worriedly.

"Just relax Jeanette, let's try and have a good time okay. After all, tonight is technically our first date." Simon said, smiling at her, he may have a frosty persona around everyone else, but he relaxed around Jeanette, someone who had been put through much of the same things as him through her own life.

"Ha ha ha" she giggled, "First base right?"

"I'm not really sure," Simon admitted, "I never got the hang of the whole base system."

"So what happened to you today in your classes" he asked after she was done laughing to herself, though still smiling in delight.

Her eyes lit up when he asked about her school life, other guys she had tried to date in the past just glazed over her intellectual side and thought of her as a piece of meat, but not Simon. he too had known the pain of unnoticed strengths. And she launched into a detailed recount of her day and all the interesting things she had done in her Science, English, and Social Studies class. She was just getting started on Math when Alvin came over to the table and practically threw something at Simon and ran for the door.

"What is that?" Jeanette asked concernedly

Simon opened the top of the envelope and peered inside, "I think these are the pictures." He replied, his face turning crimson with the embarrassment of what he had fleetingly viewed. He closed the top, tried to push the image out of his mind and went right back to listening to Jeanette's day. When she was done with her retelling, her tone having changed from excited to a more preoccupied one during the interruption, they sat in silence.

"You want to know what happened, don't you?" Simon guessed.

"Yes, I have a bad feeling about all this." She answered immediately.

"Well, just let me get the bill and we'll go follow them okay?" he said, looking at her worried, she had a knack for finding trouble whenever she got a bad feeling.

While they waited for the waiter to show up with the bill, Simon asked Jeanette what else she had heard about Susan that would have her so worried.

"I heard from a couple of the guys in Science class that she tried to kill herself once. That and that she has bipolarity and that's why she has these intense mood swings." She answered.

"Then in that case, I hope Alvin knows what he's doing." Simon said worry creeping up into his voice.

_**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN WILL CONCLUDE THE CONFLICT WITH SUSAN AND I WILL THEN LEAD THE STORY IN A NEW DIRECTION THAT FOCUSES MORE ON THE BUDDING FEELINGS BETWEEN SIMON AND JEANETTE. I WILL ALSO INCLUDE A CHAPTER HERE AND THERE THAT TOUCHES BACK ON A+B AS WELL AS LOOKING INTO THE LONG STANDING RELATIONSHIP OF T+E. ANY REQUESTS FOR SPECIFIC CONFLICTS, SCENARIOS, OR CHARACTER TYPES MUST BE SENT TO ME AS A MESSAGE NO LATER THAN THE END OF APRIL 2010. ALSO, I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER AND I LOOK FORWARD TO ANY REVIEWS OR IDEAS YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE MAY HAVE. QUICK QUESTION THOUGH THAT I WANT YOU TO ANSWER IF YOU ARE SO KIND AS TO LEAVE A REVIEW…**_

_**WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO SUSAN? I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THE READER WANTS TO ULTIMATELY HAPPEN TO HER AFTER SHE HAS RUN OUT OF THE RESTAURANT AND WHAT SHOULD ALVIN DO?**_

_**I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING YOUR OPINIONS.**_

_Happy Reading,_

_Musicalreader _

_PS. I will also be writing a one shot tragedy/comfort/hurt piece about Simon and Jeanette as well as involving all of the families. I hope you will all read it._


	13. Chapter 12

Getting to Know You

The Chipmunks and Chipettes story

Part XII

When Alvin came out of the restaurant, he scanned the parking lot quickly to try an isolate where Susan had run off to. He may not have liked her much if at all, but he still didn't want her to do anything drastic because of him. When he didn't see any motion around the lot, he focused on the cars in case she had decided to hop into one for whatever reason. As he looked around, he saw one car with the lights on inside and also the outline of Susan. He felt relieved that she was at least stationary until he also noticed a small metallic flash of light caught in the overhead light. That small flash of reflected light scared him more than anything in the world at the moment. He ran to her car ignoring the horns and angry shouts of the motorists that stopped suddenly as he ran through the traffic lanes.

He reached the driver's side door and saw that she had streaks of dried tears on her cheeks as well as having her eyes closed and her head lolling back sluggishly to face him with her pale, drawn face that looked years older than what she normally looked like. As he shook the handle trying to force the door open, he stared in horror at the small sliver of metal in her hand as his mind registered the fact that she was holding nothing other than the very knife he had seen in a dream just days ago. On the other arm she had a trail of red dripping off her skin as fresh blood continued to flow from the gash she had undoubtedly made herself just moments ago.

When the door wouldn't open for him, he yanked off his jacket and wrapped it around his elbow, reared back, and slammed the glass panel in the door until it gave way after two more tries. When the glass had a decent sized hole in it, he reached trough, hit the unlock button and yanked the door open. The car alarms went off, but all that did was attract the attention he needed to save her life as he dragged her limp frame from the seat and laid her out on the ground, careful to protect her head. She cracked her eyes open slightly and stared up at him confused.

"I thought you hated me. Why would you save me when I want to die?" she whispered as he tried to bandage her arm using a strip of fabric he had torn from his shirt.

"I don't hate you, I hate what you did, and no matter what you may have done, no one deserves to die like this." He told her as he elevated her head and pressed down on the wound until she winced in pain.

They sat there like that for maybe a few seconds before the host came running over and saw what was happening, as he dialed 911 on his cell phone, Simon and Jeanette ran up to them and Simon knelt down beside Alvin and took over the emergency aid. When he saw that Simon had things under control, Alvin stood up and made a call of his own to the Chipettes house. The phone rang once, twice, and on the third time, Eleanor picked up the phone.

"Hello? Alvin?" she said into the receiver.

"Hey Ellie, I need you to tell Theo and Brit that there was an accident with Susan, the pictures are okay and we're in the clear, but Susan cut her wrists and Simon, Jeanette, and I are going to the hospital until we know what to do next. Did you get all that?" he said hurriedly.

"I-I think so, Susan cut herself, you got the pics, and you three are going to the hospital, is that right?" she asked, worry layering every syllable of her words.

"Cool, and tell Britney… tell her I love her and I'll be back at your place with the others as soon as I can okay?"

"Got it Alvin," Eleanor said softly, hanging up.

Alvin slid the phone back into his pocket just as the ambulance pulled up and the EMT's crawled out. One of them took over for Simon and pulled Susan onto a stretcher. When they had her safely loaded, Alvin, Jeanette, and Simon were told to crawl into the back and tell them exactly what happened.

Eleanor hung up the wall phone and looked sadly at Britney and Theo in the living room. Britney had finally started to cheer up and was actually enjoying herself playing games with her and Theo, now this had to happen and ruin it for her. If Ellie ever saw Susan in person, she'd give her a piece of her mind.

"What's up with you Ellie?" Theo called from the living room as he rolled the dice for his turn.

"I just got a call from Alvin." She said somberly.

"Alvin?!" Brit asked excitedly, until she saw the expression on Eleanor's face, "What's happened?"

"You guys may want to sit down for this one." she prompted, waiting for them to make themselves comfortable as looks of worry were exchanged between them.

When they were finally settled, Ellie took a deep breath and started to tell them what Alvin had told her, that the pictures were safe, but when Susan had thrown them at him, he had seen that she was distressed and chased after her to make sure she didn't do anything dangerous, when he had found her, he had to pull her out of her car after breaking a window and then went into a first aid routine until the ambulance showed up to take her to the hospital and that Alvin, Simon and Jeanette were en route to the hospital with the EMT's.

Once she was done telling them all this, Britney was about to break down again, and Theo looked like he was numbed. Just like when he had saved her from Charles just last summer. She knew that it was all a lot to take in, and she wasn't sure what she would end up doing herself, but she knew that they would have to do something or she would go nuts from feeling so helpless.

Eventually Theo asked the question that was on all of their minds, "What do we do now?" he asked, looking around in the hopes that at least one of them would have an idea.

After a few more minutes of awkward silence, Britney spoke up, "I think that we should go and pick up the rest of the group and we'll think about it while we're all sleeping here tonight."

"Whoa, what do you mean _while we're all sleeping here tonight_? When was that agreed?" Theo questioned.

"I spoke to Dave earlier and Miss Miller said it was cool. It was supposed to be a surprise for when Alvin got back and Simon and Jeanette were here as well, but under the circumstances, I think it's going to end up being less of a surprise and more of a necessity." She answered.

"Makes sense, but how do we know when to pick them up and from where? And what do we do about Alvin's car?" Ellie asked.

"You or Theo can drive me to his car at the restaurant and then head back while I take his car and pick them up at the hospital." Britney replied quickly, getting antsy about seeing her boyfriend and more importantly, talking to Susan face to face and trying to help her.

"Do you have a key for Alvin's car?" Theo questioned, asking the obvious question.

"I have a spare he gave me when I had to use his car while mine was in the shop." Brit supplied, apparently to his satisfaction.

"Well, in that case," he began leaning forward in his seat and trying to put on a brave face, "Tell me when you want to go."

"Okay," she agreed nodding her head, "Just let me call Alvin real quick and I'll know when we need to leave." She told them as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Alvin's number.

Alvin had just finished telling the paramedics what he knew about Susan's medical history, which wasn't much by any stretch of the imagination, when his cell phone ring. After getting a dirty look from the attendant at the front desk, he stepped out into the main lobby and flipped the front of the phone up to talk.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver.

"Alvin? It's me Brit, listen, I just talked to Theo and Ellie and Theo's going to drive me to your car and I'm going to use it to come pick you, Simon, and Jeanette up as soon as you need me to." Britney said, not even taking a moment to breath. She only did that when she was worried.

"Calm down there Brit, we're all okay. They just got Susan in the OR to stitch up her wrist. They told me she lost a lot of blood but they said she'll be okay after they get her a transfusion." Alvin consoled her, trying to calm her down enough to at least speak normally.

"Are you okay?" she asked after a few seconds of silence, "I mean, she didn't threaten you did she?"

"No, in fact, she just seemed genuinely sorry when she ran out of the restaurant. Then I ran after her and found her with her wrist slit." He told her trying to tone down the horror of the scene, "I think she's more of a danger to herself right now than she is to others. And I know what she did to us, but I'm still feeling bad about what happened."

"Yeah, me too, I was actually wondering if I could talk to her when she was feeling up to it." She confessed

"I think that would be nice, but not right now, she's having some serious mood swings and the doctor said that unless she requests to speak to anyone that they won't let any visitors in that aren't family." Alvin told her.

"That's cool with me. I don't want to even think about what's going through her mind right now without the burden of visitors." Britney said sounding relatively relieved.

"So what's happening back at your place?" Alvin asked trying to steer the conversation somewhere at least semi-normal.

"Nothing much, Theo and Ellie are watching TV until I can get back to the game with them. Other than that… OOOH!" she said excitedly into the phone, "Guess what?!"

"What?" Alvin replied, taken completely by surprise by her sudden excitement.

"I talked to Dave as well as Miss Miller, and they both said that if you guys want, all three of you can spend the night at our house." she answered happily, a glimmer of joy amidst an otherwise sad night.

"That's great babe!" he exclaimed excitedly, yet again drawing dirty looks from the receptionist in the process, not that he cared at the moment, "Does that mean that your mom is cool with six hormonal teenagers that are going out spending the night in the same house while she's asleep?" he inquired eagerly.

"Not quite." She answered laughing, "My mom isn't that naïve and she told me that if she even suspects anything sexual going on that the person's involved wouldn't see each other in face to face for the rest of the year."

"Well damn," Alvin said sounding a little bit sad, he had been hoping that at least they could have caught a break this time and done something. But it looked as if fate was telling them to wait yet again.

"Although," Britney said, trying to cheer him up, "Ellie told me about this one spot in the back yard that is totally shut off from everything else and you can actually see anyone coming outside. So maybe we can still have some fun." She teased

"Okay then. I'll be waiting for you to come pick us up when they're done with us." He told her as he saw the doctor walking over unmistakably towards him.

"Alright then, love you babe." Brit said into the phone sweetly, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"You too Brit, I gotta go now, I'll call you when I get done with whatever okay?" he answered, reaching for the end call button.

"Kay, see you later." Britney said as she hung up the kitchen phone.

When he heard the dial tone on her end of the call, Alvin closed his phone and looked at the doctor expectantly.

"You're the one who found Susan Taylor this evening correct?" the doctor asked.

"Yeah, I found her in her car with her wrist cut, is she doing alright now?" Alvin answered anxiously, hoping with all his might that he had managed to get her help in time.

"Were you aware of the young ladies condition when you performed first aid?" the doctor asked staring into Alvin's eyes intently.

"Condition?" Alvin asked confused by the doctor's words, "I barely know her, let alone any condition she might have, except for the bipolarity. Is that what this is about?"

"No, not that, normally I wouldn't leak information about a patient to anyone outside their family, but seeing as I cannot contact any of those listed on her medical history report, I figured I should let her rescuer at least know."

"Know what?" Alvin asked impatiently, this guy was taking forever to say a simple sentence.

"Susan is pregnant." The doctor said concisely, "She's actually about three months along and had she succeeded in cutting her veins and artery instead of a simple deep gash, the fetus would not have survived. You saved two lives tonight mister Seville, congratulations."

"Holy shit," Alvin replied numbly, "Should I tell Simon? He helped to do the first aid."

"Yes, I think that would be good for the both of you actually. Also, Susan has come out of the sedative we put her under while stitching her up and she has asked to see you in private. She's conscious now if you wish to step in for a few minutes." The doctor offered, gesturing towards a nearby door.

"Sure no problem" Alvin replied still rocked by the news of Susan's pregnancy. He nevertheless made his way over to Simon and Jeanette who were huddled around a _Popular Science_ magazine.

When Alvin walked over to them, they knew something was wrong by the stunned look on his face. As he told them what he had just learned, instead of being surprised like he expected, Simon and Jeanette just nodded their heads and said that that would make sense.

"What do you mean it makes sense?!" Alvin asked loudly, trying to figure out how anything could make sense at this point.

"Well, she was having mood swings, and that would explain them the most." Jeanette replied matter of factly.

"Okay, however you figured all this out, I don't want to know. I also heard from the doctor that she wants to talk to me in her room right now, so I'm going to chat with her; Simon could you call Britney and tell her to come out here and pick us up? She said she'd show up in my car so just come and get me when she pulls up okay?" he instructed, momentarily resuming his front as the bossy older sibling.

"No problem Alvin." Simon answered, as Alvin walked down the hall to the room that the doctor had pointed out to him.

When Alvin entered the room, he saw that Susan was hooked up to a machine that measured her heart rate as well as her blood pressure. She also had a thick layer of white gauze on her forearm and part of her hand so that her wrist was immobilized. When the door clicked behind him, she turned her head suddenly and stared at him without saying a word.

"Hey Susan, how are you doing?" he asked cautiously, not wanting to upset her in any way lest she do more damage to herself.

"I'm sorry Alvin." She whispered back.

"Sorry? For what?" he asked

"For everything; you and Britney are perfect for each other, and I see now that what I did was so wrong. I didn't mean to hurt anyone, but I ended up hurting the one person I truly loved." She replied sadly, looking through Alvin.

"Yes, I love Britney, and you did hurt us, both of us, by doing what you did. But it's all okay now. The pictures aren't going to get out and right now, I'm more worried about you, and your child." He admitted.

Her eyes focused on him when he mentioned her child, "How did you find out?" she asked, looking scared yet again, as if he would get mad at her or something.

"The doctor told me after you were stitched up. He said that Simon and I saved two lives tonight. Who's the father anyway, if you don't mind telling me?" he asked, trying to look sympathetic, which was hard given the circumstances.

Susan stared off into the distance again for a few minutes, when her eyes finally refocused; she stared dead into Alvin's eyes and spoke, "I don't know."

"How do you not know? Were you with that many guys?" Alvin asked callously.

"No!" she yelled defensively, then suddenly calming down, "I don't know who the father is because… because I didn't see the guy that raped me." She finished quietly

"You were raped?!" Alvin asked shocked, she had gone through more than he had ever imagined.

"Yeah, about three months ago, and when I went to the police, they just told me to stop lying and get out. Then I went home and told my parents and they blamed me, they said that I had been asking for it by dressing the way I did and not screaming loud enough. Finally, they kicked me out when I refused to get an abortion." She blurted out in a torrent of words that made Alvin feel more and more sick that people could do this to her.

"Are you telling me that your own family blames you for something that was done to you against your will?" Alvin asked incredulously.

"Pretty much, yeah, I guess I wanted to feel loved and I went about it all wrong. You and Brit must hate me right now." She said starting to tear up again.

Alvin approached awkwardly and put his arms around her in a rare sign of affection. He had been in her position so many times, hurting those around him trying to do something good. Maybe if anybody could empathize with her, it was Alvin. As he continued to comfort her, the nurse came in and told him that he would have to leave for the night. He broke away from Susan and stood up to walk out the door, but before he left, he looked back at her and smiled.

"I'll come back and visit you soon okay?" he promised.

"Okay then," she replied, smiling through the tear streaks on her face, "just know that I'll hold you to it."

"I will, now rest up and take care of that kid alright?" he joked.

"I will now." She promised herself softly as he exited the room to go home. The nurse then turned off the light and Susan drifted off to sleep happy for the first time in a long time.

Alvin was greeted in the lobby by none other than Britney. When she saw him, she rushed over to embrace him but stopped suddenly after seeing his worried expression.

"Alvin, are you alright? Did something happen?" she asked quietly, trying to keep the conversation private at all costs.

"Yeah," he responded equally cautious, though for what reason, he couldn't say, "I'm just worried about Susan. I know what she did to us, but I truly think that she's a good person. Listen, let's talk about this when we drive over to your place okay?"

"Okay." She agreed seeing that whatever it was that he had just learned was serious.

"Hey Alvin," Simon interrupted, "Are you going to tell her the news the doctor told you?"

"Later Si, not here, this is _**not**_ something you want to talk about in public trust me on this." Alvin assured his taller, though younger sibling.

"Okay then, in that case, let's get back to the girls place for the night. I don't know about you, but I'm beat." Simon griped jokingly.

"I hear you on that." Alvin agreed as he led the group out the doors of the hospital to the spot that Brit had parked in and drove them all home.

The ride was relatively peaceful, with just an aura of unease hovering over everyone. Though the feelings were quickly dispelled when Britney turned on the radio and everyone listened to a shuffle of Metallica, AC-DC, and Rolling Stones as they drove to the Chipettes in silence. When they arrived, Simon and Jeanette were the first ones to bolt out of the car and run inside. Alvin couldn't tell exactly what was up with those two, but they seemed to have a lot more energy than they let on during the day.

As they entered the door to the home, they were greeted by the soft glow of the television screen that was slowly rolling the credits to a movie that had seemingly just ended. In fact, the only thing missing from the scene was Theodore and Eleanor. They soon revealed themselves however, when Alvin and Britney heard their voices coming from the kitchen where they were debating which kind of sauce to drizzle over their ice cream sundaes.

"I'm telling you Ellie, chocolate sauce is better for your skin and your teeth than caramel!" Theo argued passionately, you would have thought that they were arguing over nuclear proliferation rather than condiments.

"Hey you guys, we're back from the hospital." Britney interrupted before the little tiff could evolve into an all out third world war in the Chipettes house.

"Hey guys!" Ellie replied cheerfully, seeming to forget about the debate she had just been having with Theo who stood in the corner sulking. When Alvin looked at the bowl in front of him, he realized why. Eleanor had just finished dumping a glob of caramel all over his ice cream.

"You know that your movie's over right?" Alvin asked, trying to break the ice.

"Yeah, it ended about five minutes ago and we decided to make a treat before starting on the next one." Theo told him.

"Well? What are we waiting for?" Britney asked happily taking Alvin in one hand and Ellie in the other leaving Theo to trail behind, "Let's find another movie and get started!"

"Where's Si and Jeanette?" Alvin asked Ellie

"I saw Jeanette run into the downstairs bathroom and Simon is in the upstairs one." she answered.

"Ah, okay then, I just don't want them getting in trouble." Alvin justified, somewhat relieved that they weren't getting up to no good in Miss Millers house with her just a few inches of floor and wall away.

When Jeanette showed back up, the small group of four was sifting through the movies in the drawer under the TV, "Hey girls." She called, gesturing to her sisters, "Maybe we should get ready for bed and let the guys pick out the movie."

"That sounds like a good idea." Eleanor agreed heading up to her room.

"Yeah, good thinking Jeannie" Britney agreed heading up the steps right behind Ellie and in front of Jeanette.

While the girls were getting ready for bed, Simon came out of the bathroom and noticed the distinct lack of females in the room.

"Uh, what happened to the girls?" he asked perplexed, "Did you guys scare them off?" he joked, immediately dodging a pillow that Alvin had thrown.

"Nah, they're just upstairs getting into something more comfortable is all." Theo answered, not bothering to look up from the movies in the drawer.

"Well in that case, what are we doing?" he asked sincerely.

"We," Alvin started, "Are trying to find a movie for us to all watch when they come down."

"What about _**The Mummy**_?" Theo suggested, holding the case up.

"No, Jeanette has issues with the scarabs." Simon answered, "Do they have _**Back To The Future**_?"

"Yeah, but Ellie and I both have a hard time following the story for that one." Theo shot back

"What about _**The Man In The Iron Mask**_?" Alvin suggested, having just seen the case for it flash by his line of sight.

"I like that one!" Theo said from his seat on the floor

"Yeah, I don't think anyone would have a problem with that one." Simon agreed.

"Cool, then all we have to do is put it in!" Alvin said happily.

When the girls came down in their modest t-shirts and cotton pajama bottoms in their signature colors, they saw the boys sprawled on the couch every which way. Simon was on the side furthest from the stairs with his back on the armrest and one leg propped on the back with his other one hanging off. Meanwhile, Theo sat on the floor with his legs folded under him as he rested against the base of the sofa. And finally, Alvin was spread out on his side taking up every available inch along the back of the couch that Simon didn't already have.

The girls looked at each other and shrugged. They walked over to the couch and each took her own place against her boyfriend with Jeanette lying out with her back to Simon's front and Britney lying down in front of Alvin on her side. Finally, Eleanor sat in between Theo's legs and relaxed against his chest as he hit the play button and the opening credits rolled with the creation of the iron mask in the background.

After about an hour of the movie, Theo and Ellie were both asleep on the floor, Theo's arms still around Ellie keeping her warm on the carpet. Alvin looked over at Simon and Jeanette and saw that Jeanette at least was asleep and Simon wasn't keen on moving lest he wake her up. Even Alvin could see from the way that he looked at Jeanette that he really did love her. He just never showed it as openly as him and Brit or, god help them all, Theo and Ellie. Then he looked down at Britney as best he could with her back to him, her warmth pressed so close to him that it almost made him physically ache. He saw that she was awake and he leaned in to whisper in her ear gently to follow him into the kitchen, there was something he needed to talk to her about.

When they entered the still lit room that had been a sundae shop a little over an hour ago, Alvin turned to Brit and said, "Baby, I need to tell you something about tonight."

"What is it Alvin?" Brit asked worriedly, she never liked it when he used that tone. It always meant bad news of some kind.

"Before I tell you, I need your word that you will keep everything a secret from Jeanette, Theodore, and Eleanor. Do you understand?" he asked

"Okay, just tell me what it is already." She answered quickly, trying to get him to say what he needed to.

"Tonight at the hospital," he began, launching into the story of everything that had happened from Susan's attempted suicide to the doctor's revelation about her condition to her own confession about her current situation and the reason behind her pregnancy. While he talked, Britney sat in open mouthed silence as she absorbed everything. When he was done he asked her what she thought they should do.

"Honestly Alvin, I've never heard of anything like this." She admitted, "But I know that I want to talk to her tomorrow if I can. Would you be okay with that?"

"Sure, in fact, I was going to suggest that same thing. I just wasn't sure if you would be comfortable with it" Alvin agreed

"Then I guess we know what we're doing tomorrow hunh." She joked halfheartedly

"I guess we do," he agreed, "now what do you want to do? It's about twelve thirty, should we go to sleep?" he asked

"I think we should. I don't know when mom's going to wake us up tomorrow but I don't want to get any less than eight hours sleep." She said leading him back into the living room and back towards the couch.

As he drifted off to sleep with Britney held tightly to his body on the couch, his last thought was just how nice it was to have everything that he did.

Miss Miller came down the steps Saturday morning to find all six of the kids asleep on or around the couch in the living room. She smiled to herself at how innocent they looked. she knew that she should wake them up soon, but that could wait a little longer yet.

At ten o' clock, the kids were still asleep on the couch and Miss Miller decided that enough was enough. She walked into the living room not taking any mind to the sound she made, and flipped the light switch on in the darkened room causing Al of the kids to moan in agony as they awoke.

"Mom…" Jeanette groaned, "What time is it?"

"It's ten right now, and if you don't get up now, don't get mad at me if you miss Saturday completely." She answered in her usual strict manner

"Uggghhhhh" Theo and Alvin moaned in unison as they tried to come to life.

"Stop complaining you guys, let's just get up and go do stuff." Britney said, sounding unusually happy for it being the morning.

"Where do we take a shower?" Alvin asked

"The boys can use the upstairs shower and the girls can use mine." Miss Miller answered from the kitchen as the smell of food wafted out and made Theo's eyes pop open.

"I call first!" he yelled, bolting out of bed and peeling upstairs.

"Okay dude, don't have a stroke." Simon said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he got up from the couch and stretched the cramps out from his torso that Jeanette had been sleeping on and headed for the kitchen to eat breakfast.

"Mom! Do you want any help with breakfast?" Ellie asked, calling into the kitchen.

"Yes please!" Miss Miller called back.

"I'm going to go wash up." Jeanette said to no one in particular as she headed down the hall, grabbing a towel from the linen closet on her way to the shower.

This all left Alvin and Britney alone in the living room, Alvin still half asleep while Britney was up and pacing the floor, looking off into the distance like Simon and Jeanette did when they were contemplating an especially tough problem.

"What are you thinking about?" Alvin asked from the couch

"I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to say to Susan today." She admitted, "I hate her still for what she did to us, but I also pity her for everything she's been through. I've never been in a position like this and I can't imagine, as a woman, what it must be like to be her right now."

"Well, I think we should stop worrying about that and concentrate on enjoying our time with the group. We don't spend as much time with everyone as we used to. Let's just make the most of today alright?" Alvin coaxed, trying to calm her down.

Britney smiled down at him as he looked up at her from his laid back position, "Alright then mister sentimentality, so what do you have planned for after the hospital visit?"

"I was thinking we could go somewhere and have some _**fun**_." He answered, smiling back devilishly as he emphasized the word fun.

Britney laughed and helped him up off the cushions and they walked into the kitchen to eat breakfast with their siblings, who had managed to straggle in on their own time while Alvin and Britney had been talking. It felt good just to relax among family and friends.

Later on, after lunch, the six of them were gathered outside the Chipettes door and discussing where they would be the rest of the day.

"I don't know about you guys, but me and Eleanor said we'd go to the track and practice for the big meet on Wednesday." Theo volunteered

"Simon and I are going to the library" Jeanette pitched in

"What are you two going to do?" Britney asked, playing the concerned older sister for a second.

"We're going to study." Simon answered, though his tone and his look said an entirely different story; couple that with the fact that Jeanette smiled and blushed, everyone knew without a word that they would probably end up stuck back in the most secluded corner of the library and make out.

"What about you two?" Eleanor asked, raising one eyebrow at Alvin and Britney.

"If it's any of your business, we're going to go visit Susan for a little bit, then we're going for a drive around town." Alvin supplied, still a little snippy from the wakeup call a couple hours ago.

"So, we'll meet up later for pizza right?" Jeanette asked, looking around

"I don't see why not." Theo responded for the group as everyone else nodded their heads.

"Alright then, one of us will call the others when they feel like eating." Alvin said as they all broke off into couples and walked towards their cars.

Alvin and Britney were walking towards his car to go to the hospital when out of the blue, Britney's eyes grow and she stops dead in her tracks, "Hold up!" she orders Alvin excitedly and peels back inside as fast as she can.

Alvin sat on the hood of his car for about fifteen minutes before she came back out beaming, "What's up with you?" he asked curiously

"I'll tell you on our way there, I just had to talk to my mom for a few minutes." She answered, her smile staying plastered to her face the entire time.

Alvin wanted to ask further, but she had told him that they would talk about it on their way to the hospital, so he figured he'd wait until she volunteered the information.

By the time that they walked through the automatic doors to the sterilized structure, Alvin was also grinning from ear to ear. What Britney had told him had evaporated all ill feelings he had been subconsciously harboring since the night previously. They approached the front desk and asked to be admitted to visit Susan. They were slightly deterred when the nurse told them that only one of them could be admitted at a time, but after a quick glance at each other, they both understood that Britney should be the one to tell her the news.

Susan had been able to sleep the entire night, which was strange for her since it was the first time she had gotten to sleep in a real bed for a month. Throw that together with the fact that Alvin had also been so kind to her last night, she began to feel an emotion she had refused herself for so long, she felt hope spring up inside her. She even had a visit from Alvin to look forward to today! As she remembered this tidbit from last night, the nurse that had talked to her when Alvin had been asked to leave the night before showed up in the door with a smile on her face and told her that she had a visitor.

Susan sat up in her bed and smiled, trying to look healthy for Alvin, when Britney walked into the room staring at the floor.

"Hi Susan, we haven't spoken in a few weeks, do you at least remember who I am?" she asked, trying not to sound patronizing at the same time.

"Yes," Susan answered guiltily, "you're Britney, the cheerleader, singer, and Alvin's girlfriend"

"I heard everything that happened last night from Alvin. I just wanted to talk to you about some stuff that's happened recently." Britney reassured her, trying not to upset her at any cost, I came here to apologize."

This statement caught Susan completely off guard, she started to object, "Why do you have to apologize? I was the one causing all the trouble. I tried to take out my helpless feelings on you and Alvin."

"True, you did cause trouble, but I think that the main fault is mine. I was so mad at you that I didn't stop to think about you were going through. I sincerely thought that you were doing everything to hurt us, but as it turns out, it all could have been avoided and you might not be here if I had just taken the time to talk to you before this."

"Brit…" Susan started to say, tearing up at what was essentially a forgiveness from the person she had hurt, "Please don't do this, everything's my fault, my family made that clear and I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you and Alvin, I just wanted someone close that I could lean on and I didn't…didn't think…that anyone would want to help me if they weren't forced to." Susan blubbered through the tears running down her face.

"Shhhh… It's okay," Britney consoled, leaning over the bed to hold her as her body was wracked by sobs, when the cries began to subside, Susan looked back up at Britney as if seeing her for the first time.

"Britney, I'm sorry, I would never want to hurt you, and definitely not Alvin. Is there something I can do to make it up to you?" she begged, hoping that there was some sort of equalizer for her to truly make amends.

Britney though about it for a second or two, then looked at her and said that there was one thing that would make Alvin and her extremely happy.

"What is it?" Susan asked sincerely

"We want you to start hanging out with us at school. We'll invite you to our sleepovers, you can eat lunch with us, everything. This way you don't feel alone, and we get a new friend." Britney told her smiling.

Susan couldn't believe her ears, "Are you serious? What about when I begin to show?" she asked nervously

"No one messes with our friends, I already talked about this with the others and they all agree that it's an awesome idea. And there's one other thing that I didn't talk about with the others." She teased Susan gently; glad to see that she was at least considering the offer.

"What?" Susan questioned anxiously.

"I talked with my mom this morning, she has a few friends in the battered women's shelter and when I told them your story, the woman in charge, Miss Bryson, even said that she'd take you in as soon as she had a room ready for you. She lives out in the country and you'll love it." Brit explained

"Are you sure?" Susan asked, still a little unsure about the whole deal.

"Definitely." Britney reassured her, "I've met Miss Bryson personally and I've visited her house. It's the cutest place you can imagine with a huge field in back and woods for hiking, she takes in girls all the time and they all say that she's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet."

"Oh thank you Brit!" Susan exclaimed excitedly, throwing her arms around her again in a hug that forced the air out of Brit's lungs.

When she could breathe again, Britney spoke, "I'm glad you like it, and when you get discharged, if your room is still being used, mom said you could live with us."

"Britney, thank you again, this is too much by far." Susan told her, careful not to hug her again lest she break Brit.

"It's the least we could do for you. You've been through so much. Now let's talk about a less depressing topic than the past okay? What have you been up to?" Britney asked, trying to steer the conversation in a new direction.

Susan lit up as she told her how nice everyone at the hospital was and was getting started on what she had done in freshman and sophomore year when the nurse came in and told Britney that she would have to leave now so that Susan could rest.

Britney got up from her seat by Susan's bed and walked toward the door, but not before reassuring Susan that her and Alvin and even the others would visit her when they could.

"You're serious about me living with you in between here and Miss Bryson's house aren't you?" she asked quietly, doubt still lingering in the aftermath of their conversation.

"Absolutely," she assured Susan, "Now, get some rest and take of that baby in the meantime okay?"

Susan let out a small laugh and promised Britney that she'd take care, and she lay back on her bed as she watched her new friend leave the room and head down the hallway towards the main entrance. She drifted off to sleep for the second time in two days with a smile on her face.

Alvin was waiting out in the lobby when Britney came around the corner smiling anxiously.

"How'd it go?" He asked

"I think it went good. She's looking forward to Miss Bryson's place, and I told her about living with me and the girls in the meantime. You're sure that you're cool with that?" Britney replied

"If you're cool with everything, then I'm cool with it as well." He told her, bringing her in for a hug. After a few seconds, Britney cleared her throat.

"What is it?" Alvin asked

"Uh, sweetie, I hate to break this up, but we're drawing some looks from the receptionist." She replied laughingly.

"Then in that case, let's go somewhere more private." Alvin answered, pulling away and leading her out the door by the hand towards his car.

When they were in the car with the engine started, Britney asked where exactly they were going to go.

"Well, if I remember right, you wanted _**to go all the way**_ a couple weeks ago right?" he asked.

"Yes…" Brit replied slowly, liking where this was going.

"Well, let's go for a drive and we'll see where we go from there. How's that sound?" he asked, nervous that she'd shoot him down.

"Okay," she replied quickly, taking him totally by surprise, "But there's one condition."

"What?" he asked nervously

"You can't stop until I say so." She said smiling devilishly at him.

"Yes Ma'am!" he responded excitedly as he drove off onto one of the countryside roads surrounding the hospital.

**I hope that you all enjoyed the Susan Story-arc. The next chapter will be almost entirely a romance scene. It may get graphic and younger readers should either not read it or be very careful about reading it. Also, after Ch. XIII, the next one that is, the story will shift perspective to a Simonette story-arc that I've been working on. Everything transitionally will also be real time. **

**In between Ch. XIII and XIV, I will also do a one shot Simonette involving loss, not death, romance, and hurt/comfort. I apologize for the long pause in between chapters, but I was cut off from the computer, otherwise this would have been posted days ago. Again, thank you dedicated readers. Please post any questions and reviews on the review page. I will personally respond within 48 hours of receiving any reviews.**

**Happy Reading,**

**Musicalreader **** 4-18-10**


	14. Chapter 13 XXX

Getting to Know You

The Chipmunks and Chipettes story

Part XIII

Britney had been silently mulling over where they could be going for the better part of the drive down the country road. True enough it had only been a few minutes, but he was taking her on a drive down a road she had never been down before in her life and she was curious as to where they would end up. She wouldn't dare guess though less she make him choose a different spot that was even further out. She didn't know how much longer she could take the tension building up inside her.

After another five minutes of silence, she finally caved, "Okay, I give up, where are you taking me?" she asked desperately

"Wow, a whole ten minutes." Alvin remarked, smiling and disregarding her question in the process, "you're getting some patience there Brit."

"Don't screw with me Alvin, tell me where we're going." She whined gently, turning the puppy dog look on him at the same time.

"You're doing the face again aren't you?" he asked, doing his best to not look her in the face else he be pulled in.

She didn't answer, but instead intensified the look until he grudgingly looked just long enough for his resolve to dissipate.

"ARGHH, fine, if you _**must**_ know, I'm taking you to a small cabin nearby that Dave used o take us to when we were little and he wanted us to get a taste of the outdoors." He confessed grudgingly.

"A cabin?" Brit asked curiously, "What's it like? Is it close to here? What's it look like? Is there cell service? Is there a bed?" she fired her questions intensely, eager to hear more.

Alvin for his part, ignored her questions with nothing more than a gentle smile when he saw that she was excited about his choice of private venues. As she continued to pester him with questions, he turned softly off into a side road into the woods that led down a lit trail big enough for a truck. Her questions disappeared as she stared out the windows in wonder at the natural beauty of the surrounding greenery and the wildlife. When he finally stopped and turned the car off, it was in front of a small cabin that was just big enough for two rooms in the whole thing. Britney turned to Alvin and smiled happily.

"But how will we know if anyone calls us out here? Do you get reception?" she asked

"Yep, checked it out the last time me and the guys came here, there's plenty of reception and it's still totally secluded from prying eyes." He promised her, though still taking a look at his phone to double check that he still got service.

She giggled at the secluded part, but other than that, Britney was totally excited to be out here alone with Alvin. Suddenly, a thought struck her, "You have protection right?"

"Yeah, why?" he asked, surprised that she would be concerned about something like that this early on.

"Because," she answered, winking at him and running toward the cabin's front door, "You're going to need it." And she disappeared behind the door.

Alvin stood rooted to the spot in shock as he processed that simple sentence that held so much promise. When he was able to feel his legs again, he rushed up the few steps that separated the door from the ground and threw the door open in his excitement. He was a little surprised to see that the main room was empty, and he made his way to the only other room in the structure. He saw that there was a dim light spilling out from the space in between the floor and the edge of the door. He slowly pushed the door open and stared in awe at the scene in front of him.

Britney was laying on top of the old comforter with her t-shirt the only thing keeping her creamy skin from view. Her shorts were on the floor in a heap and her shoes and socks were kicked off in the corner. She stared at him sexily and if he wasn't already aroused, he certainly was by this point.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked him, his words rolling over his skin like silk and leaving goose bumps in their wake.

"You're sure you want to do this?" he asked, taking his shoes off and walking over to the edge of the bed slowly.

"Definitely" she replied confidently and, could it be, huskily? Was she as turned on as he was at that moment?

Alvin knelt on the edge of the bed as she propped herself up on her elbows and smiled at him, her smile could have outshone the moon when it came to beauty, and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply, tenderly, and yet, lustfully. After pressing as close together as physically possible while their clothes were still on, Alvin broke away and stood up.

"What are you doing?" Brit asked huskily, the kiss only having aroused her even more

"I'm just going to set the mood a little babe, no need to rush out here" he told her as he walked over to the dresser in the corner and flipped the switch on an old radio.

As the radio came on, "Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This" was fading into the background and the DJ was announcing the next song as "I Wanna Know What Love Is"

While the opening chords were ringing through the speakers, Alvin made his way back to the bed softly, not in any hurry to please the girl he loved as much as life itself.

He sat down on the mattress and leaned forward slowly to kiss her as deeply as he had before, but she had other plans for who would be on top. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her as she fell back softly and rolled until she was straddling him in nothing but her shirt and the lace panties she had been saving for just such an occasion. She could easily feel his arousal pressing into her, and it felt so good! She couldn't hold back, wanting to feel every inch of him as intimately as possible. Her hands wandered up and down his chest over the shirt that hid the muscled façade underneath. She finally gave up on him taking the hint and just reached up under it and pulled it off of him, making sure to scrape the backs of her nails up his skin as she did so.

In the background, she could just make out some of the lyrics to what the radio was playing.

_**In my life there's been heartache and pain  
I don't know if I can face it again  
Can't stop now,  
Though I've traveled so far  
To change this lonely life  
**_

_**I wanna know what love is...  
I want you to show me...  
I wanna feel what love is...  
I know you can show me...**_

She thought fleetingly of just how true those words were as she went back to the task at hand. Alvin had just started to moan in ecstasy underneath her and she loved the sensation he caused to run through his body. She literally felt the vibrations of his voice run through every part of her, and she meant every part. Her mind drifted back to that night in his car at the drive in and what he had been able to do to her with the mouth she was kissing at that moment. Suddenly, he wasn't the only one whose arousal was noticeable, she was sure he could feel the heat radiating from her through the material of his jeans. Hopefully, he'd take control before she lost it completely.

He couldn't believe that this was all happening so fast. Sure he pretty much knew what the endgame would be with them, but the actions leading up to it had always been a mystery to him and he was definitely surprised to feel just how forceful Brit was being. She definitely didn't want to wait and it was totally clear that she wanted this as much as he did, he reached his hands up and ran them along the sides of her shirt, his own having been torn off by her just minutes ago. He could feel her heat and moisture through the denim of his jeans and figured he'd better make a move now. As he ran his hands over her, he slipped one of them under the material and paced itself slowly up her skin until he felt the plastic clip in the center of her back.

Britney gasped a little when he flicked his wrist and the scrap of fabric around her chest slackened its grip. She pulled away from for a second and smiled, "Let me help this along." She teased, pulling her shirt up over head and throwing the now pointless bra on the floor. Alvin still couldn't wrap his mind around the perfection in front of him. She blushed as she saw him staring in awe and took advantage of the momentary lapse of thought to pull his shirt off as well. He offered no resistance and was in fact more turned on by her taking the lead. She pressed her bare flesh on his in a burst of passion and the force of the sudden come-on was great enough to knock him backwards on the bed.

The heat from her small frame was enough to totally abolish the chill the drafty room had. He could even feel distinctly the small buds in the center of each breast hardening under his touch as his hands began to gently massage her as they pressed their lips together in yet another long, drawn out kiss. Eventually, he even felt her moan as his hands cupped her and she bucked a little as she straddled his leg again as he broke away from the kiss to lavish her breasts with his tongue. As he continued to bring her ever closer to the brink of orgasm, he eased up so that she wouldn't be spent too soon, but of course, she would have none of that and pulled his head in closer to her flesh as he tried to pull away and work his way down her body.

The radio had switched songs and the lyrics made Alvin smile as he remembered the words in the back of his mind…

_**She was a fast machine, she kept the motor clean.  
She was the best damn woman that I, ever knew.  
She had those sightless eyes, tellin' me no lies.  
Knocking me out with those American thighs!**_

_**Taking more than her share, had me fighting for air.  
She told me to come, but I was already there!  
Cuz the walls started shaking, my mind was aching, and we were breaking.**_

_**YOU!  
SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG!!!**_

Britney finally relinquished her grip on Alvin when he flipped her onto the bottom and was rewarded by way of his mouth working her up into a frenzy as he worked his way down her slender body until he reached the final scrap of clothing she had left on. He hooked his thumbs under the waistband and slid the now positively soaked panties down her lithe legs slowly. She lifted her hips up slightly to assist him. when the scrap of cloth was thrown to the ground with the rest of the clothes they had walked in wearing, he began to kiss up the inside of her legs, gradually making his way up to the inside of her upper thigh. He felt her squirm in ecstasy as he slid his tongue along her hot, moistened slit slowly, savoring every sensation and making sure not to miss any part of her lest she feel unfulfilled.

Brit couldn't believe what she was feeling, sure he had gone down on her once before, but this time, he was like a whole new person. Where there had been hesitancy weeks ago was now was replaced by a patient precision. And she felt the difference! If he had once brought her to orgasm, this time, she was sure that she would leave the room having cum at least four times. She felt his tongue rasp across her clit and the room began to melt around her as she rocked back and forth gently, uncontrollably, desperate for him to stop the pleasurable torture he was inflicting on her now and just fuck her.

He didn't stop lavishing her until her world shattered and she felt her sex convulse of its own free will, she felt the warmth grow and overtake her as she climaxed as never before. She looked down to see Alvin grinning up at her, almost cockily, at the reaction and sheer joy he was able to bring her with seemingly no effort at all on his part. Well two could play at that game. She pulled him up and brought him in for another kiss only to surprise him by flipping him onto the bottom and running her splayed fingers over his chest as she sucked on his neck and began to work her way down, occasionally biting the flesh to send shivers up and down his spine.

As she drew closer to the jeans he still wore, reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic pouch that she set aside on the bedside table for later. When she was sure that he wasn't resisting in the slightest, she undid the brass button that held his pants up and slid her hand just inside of the now open flap and was ecstatic to feel the large member underneath through the material of his boxers. Even though she had felt it before, she was still a little shocked at just how big it was.

Alvin groaned a little bit as she fumbled his cock out of his pants and exposed it to the air of the room. She giggled at his expression and smiled up at him as she slowly began to stroke his thick, hard cock. After a few strokes, she decided to further tease him by running her tongue up his shaft and flicking the tip across his head.

Alvin was slowly losing his mind. Britney had never been this dominating before, and the change was just all the more arousing. As she ran her tongue over his shaft, she would stop occasionally and kiss whatever flesh was directly underneath her soft lips. When he thought he would cum from that alone, she decided to up the pleasure and took him between her lips and, softly at first, sucked him in from head to root. How exactly, he would never know, but he knew that it felt so good.

She began to move her head back and forth, slowly at first, and gradually speeding up as her hand slipped between her legs and she fingered herself as she drew the stiff rod deeper into the heat of her mouth. After just a couple of minutes, Alvin started to moan gruffly and said out loud, "I can't hold on any more Brit… I'm gonna cum!" he practically shouted as shuddered and shot a thick rope of semen down her throat causing her to gag a little as she released him to get a breath of air. She reached over to the bedside table where she had left the condom packet and searched around briefly for a box of tissues or something to spit into. She finally found an old towel she could use and while Brit was spitting out what she could, Alvin was trying to regain the feeling in his legs.

Eventually, everyone was back to normal and they lay on top of the sheets holding each other in a warm afterglow, each one resting up for what was to come next. After about ten minutes of just holding each other, Britney's hand started to trace circles in Alvin's back. She was ready for round two. Even better, she could feel Alvin was ready as his arousal pressed into her stomach gently, pleadingly. She smiled up at him and reached behind her to grab the small foil packet and tear it open. She stared at it for about ten seconds before asking Alvin if he knew how to put one on.

"Yeah, they taught all the guys in sex ed. I think I still remember…" he said a little hesitantly as he took the small piece of stretchy material and did as he was taught.

When the condom was hugging his dick snuggly, a strange sensation that felt a little bit oily to be honest, Britney looked him up and down, happy that this perfect specimen of masculinity was all hers. She closed what little distance there was between them and put her arms around him as he picked her up suddenly, causing her to gasp in surprise as he laid her out on the bed. Alvin soon followed her onto the mattress, trying his best not to bounce her off the old box spring.

Britney blushed a little as she wrapped her legs around Alvin, his heat warming every inch of her that he touched with his exposed skin. She could have died then and been the happiest person who had ever lived, but luckily, she continued breathing. Alvin saw that she was still a little self conscious so he decided to at least take her mind off the circumstances and kissed her unexpectedly. Her surprise quickly dissipated and she began to grind her sex against his thigh, effectively riding him.

Alvin could feel just how aroused she was from the heat and the moisture that was spilling over from her sex. After several minutes of grinding and Alvin resisting the urge to simply throw her down on the mattress and have his way with her, he ran out of patience and flipped so that she was lying on her back looking up at him kneeling between her spread thighs. The show of dominance actually served as a further turn on for her, not that she would tell him that just yet.

Alvin looked deeply into her eyes and said, "This is your last chance Brit, if you want to stop now, say so; because if we start this, I'm not going to stop easily, if at all."

Those words only solidified her resolve and Brit looked him back in the eyes with steely determination and said she still wanted him, then she reached down and guided him into her slowly and whispered into his ear, "In fact, I want all of you, and I want you now." And she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him forward with all her strength. There was a slight twinge of pain as her hymen broke and she looked down to see a small spot of blood on the sheets. But at the same time, she didn't care that she was no longer a virgin. She was just glad that she had lost hers at the same time as the man she loved, together.

Alvin almost came as soon as he felt himself slip inside her warmth. The heat, the moisture, and the tightness were almost too much for him to bear; especially when she gripped him with her legs and forced him to ram into her full force. Needless to say, this was perhaps the best feeling on earth he had ever experienced. He saw that she was braced and he knew she must be in some sort of pain right now, but there was no way he could stop the movement that felt so great. He started out slow, trying to ease out until only the head was still inside her, then just as carefully slipping back in until he felt his cock hit the bottom of her pussy.

Britney couldn't believe that this was actually happening. The pain had subsided relatively quickly and her body was now wracked by waves of pleasure. Every time he withdrew his rock hard cock, she felt a new wave of ecstasy shoot up her spine and tingle its way through her skin, and when he thrust into her and hit bottom, she came ever closer to yet another orgasm. She didn't know how much longer she could last, but she could tell from Alvin's face that he was nearing his breaking point. She pulled him down close to her mouth and whispered in his ear, "cum for me baby" as she felt the now familiar wave of tension rip through her as she reached her own climax.

Alvin felt Britney clench around him as she reached the point of orgasm, and not a moment too soon. He finally released safely inside the thin piece of rubber as he felt her intimate muscles tense and release. Each time she clenched, she milked a little bit more out of him. He looked down at her and was pleased to see her lying in her back gasping form the intense experience. She looked like he felt, tired and oh so fulfilled. She finally released him as he went limp from exhaustion and pulled out for the last time, only to lie down beside her and hold her, both of them glowing from the experience. They both drifted off into a light sleep in one perfect moment of bliss and contentment.

Britney woke up after a few minutes of sleeping in Alvin's bare arms, her skin still tingling from their first true foray into the carnal delights that Theo and Ellie had long since partaken in. Although now, Britney could finally understand why Eleanor did it with Theo so often, if Alvin had brought more protection, she would make him use it for at least another round. As she thought this, Alvin shifted a little as he woke up.

"Did you enjoy that as much as I did?" he asked stupidly

"Of course I did, didn't you feel?" she replied sarcastically, though smiling kindly nonetheless.

He smiled and sat up to remove the now useless piece of cold, somewhat oily condom and threw it away on the other side of the bed, away from where Britney could see it. If he wasn't so scared of getting her pregnant, he would try and corral her into a second round, but he had more respect for her than that, and he got up out of the comfortable and memorable bed, and bent over to pick his clothes up off the floor.

"While you're down there, can you hand me my underwear?" Britney asked innocently, leaning over the edge looking so sexy in nothing but her skin, and knowing full well that it only enflamed him.

"Sure," he answered, refusing to be drawn in, much as he wanted to, and handed her the sheer lingerie from the floor as he pulled his own pants on.

No sooner was his belt buckled than his phone rang. He checked the caller ID and saw that it was Jeanette. he flipped open the cover and answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Alvin, is Britney with you?" she asked on the other end.

"Yeah, she's right here, what do you need?" he replied

"Nothing, I just wanted to make sure you guys were in one place, her phone was off when I tried it so I figured I'd call you. Theo and Ellie are in the pizza place holding our seats, they said for everyone to meet up there."

"Got it" Alvin answered, their plan for everyone meeting up for dinner finally popping back into his head. Though he had no idea that Britney and he had been out here that long, "We'll head over there in about five minutes, see you all then. Bye"

"Bye" she said as she hung up.

Alvin turned to Britney, who had used the time he had been on the phone to pull on the rest of her clothes, and told her that they were all going to meet up like planned in five minutes.

"So I guess we'd better leave now hunh?" she asked sadly, apparently not wanting to leave the cabin.

"We'll be back here soon, if that's okay with you?" he teased, eliciting a smile from the girl he loved.

"I'll hold you to that mister romantic." She retaliated, heading out the door and towards the car.

"Hey wait up!" he called, grabbing the rest of his stuff from the floor and running after her, "I still have to put my clothes on!"

**Thus concludes the Alvin-Britney part of the ****Getting to Know You**** series. Chapter XIV (14) will pick up from Simon and Jeanettes point of view and show us all their budding relationship. But what trials await the two smartest kids in the school? How will they deal with what I have planned for them? Please take note that I will be taking a small break from GtKY for a little bit in order to do a one shot story also for Simon and Jeanette. Please leave any comments/thoughts/reviews in either the review page. I hope you all "enjoyed" this romance scene as well as the entire Alvitney story and will take a look at the one shot when it is published. It will be entitled, All Night Long.**

**Happy Reading**

**musicalreader**


	15. Chapter 14

Getting to Know You

The Chipmunks and Chipettes story

Part XIV

"So are they coming anytime soon?" Simon asked from across the table at the pizza diner.

"Yeah, they said they were on their way now." Jeanette responded, smiling at her boyfriend, "What about Theodore and Ellie?"

"I called Theo and he said they were just finishing up an errand and they would be right over." Simon told her, mellowed out by her happy demeanor.

"What do you think that means for those two?" Jeanette asked, staring off into space.

"Theo and Ellie?" Simon asked, "Probably means that they were just finishing up having sex. I swear, for the babies of the group, they are probably the most active couple I have ever known."

"Hmmm," Jeanette responded, thinking hard about something, Simon was being awfully cold today. Normally when it was just the two of them, he was so nice and friendly. She was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong. Just then, their number was called and he got up to go get their pizza from the counter.

They sat and ate in silence, yet another thing that was strange for Simon. for the most part, he was a very talkative person, with all these wonderful ideas that Jeanette loved to just listen to.

"Is there something wrong Simon?" she finally asked, shattering the silence.

Simon sighed and put his pizza slice down, "I guess you noticed hunh?"

"Well, you have been acting strange today, is it something I should know about?" she replied, concerned that something big had happened.

"It doesn't affect you but I was going to talk to you about it." He confessed, "You see, lately there's been this…" he started, but was interrupted at the last minute by the arrival of their siblings.

"How about you tell me on the way home," Jeanette offered, smiling kindly at him as she stood up to greet her sisters and Simon also got up to let his brothers into the booth.

When they were all seated, Jeanette started the round of questions.

"What did you all do today?"

Theo and Ellie grinned a little and they told her how they had managed to not only shave two seconds off of Ellie's 100 meter time, but how Theodore had also managed to add five feet to his Shot-put distance. Then they told the group about this new bakery downtown they had seen.

"And what about you guy?" Theo asked Jeanette and Simon.

"Simon took us to see this new exhibit at the museum all about the history of writing and the technology used for it over the past 3000 years." She told them all excitedly.

"You guys went to a museum for a date?" Alvin asked incredulously, "Sounds more like a punishment to me."

"Well, that's just because you can't appreciate the finer things in life." Simon retorted, his face turning a little red the way it always did when Alvin was being a nuisance.

"Whatever," Alvin said lazily, smiling at Britney who giggled a little under her breath.

"And just what did you two do that has you in such a good mood?" Jeanette asked innocently.

Alvin and Britney blushed a little and muttered to themselves before tell everyone that they had gone to see Susan in the hospital and that when she got out, she would be staying with the girls for a little bit.

"You invited SUSAN?! To live with us?!" Eleanor asked angrily, "Did you even bother to talk this over with mom?"

"Who do you think suggested it?" Britney retorted

"And not only that, but she's going to be hanging out with us at school too." Alvin said grinning, "She'd really nice when you get to know her, she's just had a really hard time lately."

"Well, I think it's a great idea." Simon said from across the table, drawing looks of astonishment from everyone but Jeanette, "After all, the safest place for someone who wronged you to be is right next to you."

"This has nothing to do with what she's done!" Britney answered defensively, "I invited her because I genuinely care about her. Besides, she's going to need all the help she can get in the next few months."

"Why just the next few months?" Jeanette asked, "Is there something wrong with her?"

"Well, it's not so much something's wrong as she just needs some close friends to help her deal with an issue that came up." Britney explained.

"Is she pregnant or something?" Theo asked around the piece of pizza hanging out of his mouth. He had meant it sarcastically, but the silence from Simon, Britney and Alvin told the real story.

"Oh my god, are you serious?" Eleanor questioned anxiously, "Was it an accident or what?"

"Actually, I'm not sure that we should tell you the whole story." Alvin said cagily, "Let's just say that it was not planned and she had no control over anything but she's keeping the baby at least until it's born."

"That's all I need to know." Theo said, his appetite suddenly gone.

"So what do we do now?" Jeanette asked after a few minutes of silence when all the food was gone, "It's Saturday night, we don't have school tomorrow, and we have rides, who wants to do what?"

"I wanted to go do some shopping and I'm dragging Alvin along." Britney said confidently, though Alvin made a slight grimace behind her back.

"Ellie and I were going to go see that new _Nightmare on Elm Street_ movie." Theo said hesitantly, giving off the impression that it was mostly Eleanor's idea and he was just along for the ride.

"What about you two?" Ellie asked, gesturing towards Simon and Jeanette.

"What do you want to do?" Simon asked, "I chose the museum today, you pick where we go now."

"I wanted to go to the mall for a bit actually." Jeanette admitted smiling.

"Cool!" Alvin said, "Then you can come with me and Brit!"

Simon had a feeling that he just wanted some other people to go with them so he wouldn't be alone outside the girls changing rooms, but he also wanted to spend more time with Jeanette, so he agreed to go.

"Then how about when we're all done, we meet up at the boy's house for another sleepover?" Theo suggested.

"I'll call Dad." Alvin said, getting up from the table to make the call.

"I'll text Mom." Ellie offered, pulling her own phone out.

They continued talking about what they would do if it was okay for the girls to spend the night. After a few minutes, Alvin walked back and told them that Dave was cool with it if Miss Miller was. At the same time though, Miss Miller texted back that the girls could stay the night provided that they came back to pick up their stuff from the house first, she didn't want them running around the boy's house in the morning with no fresh clothes.

"So it looks like we're all spending the night again!" Theo said excitedly.

"Alright then, if you guys will drive us by our house before we head over to yours, I guess we can go now." Jeanette summed up, rising from her seat, Simon getting up as well and heading for her truck.

When they were out of earshot, Eleanor leaned across the table and whispered to the other three, "Is it just me, or is Simon acting weird?"

"No," Alvin replied, "I noticed it too, maybe Jeanette will find out and we can ask her tonight." They all nodded in agreement and got up from the table to head for their own rides. Eleanor and Theodore heading for his car to go to the theater, while Alvin and Britney hurried after Simon and Jeanette who had already started the truck and were just waiting for them to follow.

When they arrived at the mall, Britney led the way into the shops with Alvin dragged along by the wrist. Simon and Jeanette lagged behind as they walked leisurely into the large glass and steel complex crawling with what must have been the town's entire teenage population. As soon as Jeanette saw that Britney and Alvin were far enough away, she swerved to the side into a side hallway and led Simon out the exit. When she was sure that they were alone, she looked up into his eyes and asked what he had been trying to tell her earlier.

Simon sighed and began his story, "You remember the new kid that transferred here from Georgia?"

"That quiet kid in your gym class? Yeah, I remember him, why? What happened?" she asked in response.

"Well, as it turns out, he was only quiet to size everybody up. He got kicked out of his last school for fighting and almost killing a kid, and now he's got like ten of the guys in my gym class in his little _**gang**_. And to top it all off, the guys in this group of his are douche-bags. We're talking fake tans, gelled hair and polo's here." He told her, watching her for her reaction.

"Uh-hunh, and what's wrong with that? He's hanging out with his own kind of friends, what does that have to do with you?" she asked, confusion written clearly across her face.

"Two days ago, in the locker room, we were all changing out and this guy is talking shit about all of us. You, me, the rest of the group; and I get in there to try and tell him off and next thing I know, his gang has me pinned to the lockers and he gets in my face screaming at me to mind my own business. I tell him to fuck off and stop talking trash about you guys, and then he tells me that the next time he sees me; he's going to make sure that I can't talk for a long time. Then he hauls off and uses me for a punching bag for a minute or two."

All in all, he spent about a minute telling her all this, but while he was telling the story, his eyes misted up and Jeanette cold tell just how much the event had shaken him.

"Did he leave bruises?" she asked tenderly, looking from his face to his torso.

"Yeah, I think they're still there, they didn't hurt yesterday, which is why I didn't say anything. I didn't want you to worry, I guess that I didn't hide it so well today though" He explained.

"Can I see?" she asked softly.

Simon was caught totally off guard by that one, but he obliged and lifted his shirt up to expose his thin frame. He may not have been heavy like Alvin or Theo, but he had muscle to spare. And the skinniness helped to define it all in a wonderful display of hidden strength. The only thing wrong with the image was the giant splotches of purple, red, and in a couple cases, black that stretched across his skin. She had no idea how long he had taken the beating for, but she knew that he was lucky that he didn't pass out.

"Do they hurt today?" she asked, running her fingers lightly over the tender flesh and saw him wince as he told her that they didn't hurt at all.

"Why do you do that?" she said quietly, putting her head down and taking her hand and running it around his back to hold him.

"Do what?" he asked concernedly.

"You always play the tough guy, always trying not to let your emotions show through. I can tell that they hurt, so why do you try and lie to me?" she said, starting to choke up a little as she realized that he had been hurt for standing up for his friends and family, for her too.

Simon ran his hands across the length of her back and stared off into space trying to think of an answer, "I guess I just don't want to look weak." He replied lamely.

Jeanette laughed through the tears that were building up and told him frankly, "You do well enough at that with that robot act you put on for everyone else, but when you're with me, I want you to be totally honest about everything with me. Is that clear?" she asked, doing her best to imitate Eleanor and Miss Miller.

Simon laughed as he listened to her and she could feel his abs moving against her as he replied, "Yes Ma'am."

They stayed in that back room for a while longer, just holding each other, until Simon's phone rang and he looked at it to see a text from Alvin asking where he was.

"I think we should go rescue Alvin." He joked, pulling his shirt back down, much to Jeanette's chagrin.

"Can't he last a few minutes longer?" she asked, wanting to spend more time alone with Simon.

"Unfortunately, he normally can't last as long as he already has when he's shopping for himself. We better go back him up and drag Brit out of here before she bankrupts Alvin's wallet." He said laughingly as he put his hand around her waist and walked them out the door and over to the store that Britney and Alvin were at.

"Dude!" Alvin greeted exasperatedly, "Where the hell were you?! You left me alone with her while she tore through Dillard's, Abercrombie, and I had to hold her back from the shoe store entirely!"

"Sorry Alvin, we got sidetracked a little looking at music in the FYE." Simon said, hoping that he would buy the excuse, "Where is she now?"

"Right now she's checking out and then I somehow have to find a way out of here that doesn't pass any more stores she likes." Alvin said, looking pleadingly at his younger brother and his girlfriend.

Jeanette laughed and reassured him that she knew a way out that would get them out of there without any more purchases.

"I owe you guy's big time." Alvin thanked them melodramatically.

When Britney came out of the store, the small group quickly surrounded her and escorted her, despite her protests, out the door and towards the cars in the parking lot. When they arrived at the girl's house, Jeanette and Britney ran inside and grabbed their night stuff in about two minutes and ran back out to get to the boy's house. They pulled into the driveway at about nine and were pleased to see that Theo and Ellie had already set up the living room carpet for sleeping and had a movie ready to play with popcorn coming out of the kitchen just as they walked in.

"It's about time you guys got here." Theo griped, smiling as he said it.

"Dave said that we can stay up until twelve, but lights out then." Ellie informed them from her spot on the carpet.

"Did dad already go to bed?" Alvin asked Theo.

"Yeah, he said that since tomorrow's Monday, we're responsible for getting up and to school on time." Theo informed them, sitting down beside Eleanor on the carpet and hitting the play button on the remote.

The opening credits for them movie, National Treasure, rolled, and the four who had just walked in plopped down and reached for the popcorn as they watched the action unfold. After a while, Simon felt Jeanette start to recline a little bit against him and though he tried to ignore it, the pain in his abdomen kept him from truly enjoying the warmth she radiated and the feeling of contentment that accompanied it. Luckily, for Simon that is, after a few seconds, she remembered that he was bruised and made him switch places so that his head was in her lap and she stroked his hair as they watched the rest of the movie together.

When the ending credits slowly crawled their way up the screen, Eleanor got up to turn the lights on and asked Theo if he could run upstairs to get his alarm clock for the next morning. When he came back, the group saw that they still had about an hour left and started discussing what to do until they ran out of time.

"How about we play a game?" Britney suggested, to the unanimous approval of the others.

"So what game should we play?" Simon asked, sounding happier than he had all day.

"How about we play something we haven't in a while?" Ellie put in, though she had no idea what.

All of a sudden, Alvin got an evil look in his eyes, which was enough to creep out most of the others, and started to say, "I have an idea, how about we play _**Guess Who**_?"

"Do you mean that weird board game?" Jeanette asked confused.

"No, he means the other version." Simon said wearily, he had obviously heard this idea before.

"Exactly," Alvin agreed, looking around at the anxious faces, "It's really easy to play, all we need is something for a blindfold. Then, we put the blindfold on one person and the rest draw straws, the one with the shortest straw has to kiss the blindfolded person and then they person with the blindfold on guess who it was."

"What if the shortest straw goes to a guy and the one with the blindfold is a guy?" Eleanor asked seriously.

"Then in that case, how about this," Alvin said, fumbling around for an answer, "The only people who can kiss the blindfolded person, are the members of the opposite sex."

"I think it would be fun." Britney said from her spot on the floor next to Alvin.

"Maybe, but are we talking full on kiss or one on the cheek?" Eleanor asked, still unsure.

"The lips!" Alvin said confidently, "Otherwise, where's the fun in it all?"

"I think that could be fun." Theo agreed.

"If he's playing, then I guess I'm in." Ellie conceded.

"What about you two?" Britney asked, looking at Simon and Jeanette.

"I have no problem if it's alright with Jeanette." Simon admitted, looking at his girlfriend.

"I think it will be fun, and we can use the towel I brought for the blindfold." Jeanette said unexpectedly.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Alvin asked, jumping up to run into the kitchen and get some straws to cut up.

When everyone was set up, they all picked a straw at random to see who would wear the blindfold first. Ironically enough, Alvin was the one who drew the shortest and as such was subjected to be the first guesser. When he was sitting down, his eyes covered, he was asked by Britney where he wanted to be kissed for the game. He of course said his lips and while he grinned away, the girls drew straws again. This time though, Eleanor was the one to draw short and slunk over to Alvin, took his head in her hands, and kissed him full on the lips. Simon could even swear that he saw Alvin try and sneak some tongue in. when she pulled away after the agreed upon eight seconds, Theo asked him who he thought it was that had kissed him.

"Well, they were forceful so I know Jeanette is out, and they took charge, so I'm going to guess Brit." He responded confidently.

"WRONG!" they all, Britney included, shouted as they laughed their asses off. When they had calmed down enough, Theo was the one to tell him that it was actually Eleanor.

"No fucking way." Alvin said, stunned, "Then in that case, I just have to say Theo, you lucked out there dude. No offense Brit, but Eleanor is a pretty good kisser."

"Well, if you think that's good kissing, just wait until you actually get to kiss me," She said flirtatiously.

"Okay, who's next?" Alvin asked, holding the towel up for the next victim.

They drew again, and this time, it was Jeanette who drew short. Her sisters squealed a little bit and helped her to tie the blindfold on and showed her where to sit. When she was situated comfortably, the guys drew straws and this time it was none other than Simon who drew the short straw. Alvin elbowed him in the ribs, causing a slight wince, and pushed the grinning brother towards his girlfriend.

She sat there patiently, a slight touch of red showing on the exposed parts of her skin as he took her face in his hands and bent over to kiss her softly, tenderly, flicking his tongue out to graze the flesh of her tender lips. Unfortunately, his brothers dragged him away when the eight seconds were up so he wouldn't give it away. But you could tell from Jeanette's expression when the towel came off that she already knew exactly who had drawn short. She walked over to him and simply continued the kiss a while longer. After about a minute though, the other siblings, who had originally been cheering them on, started to shift from one foot to the other awkwardly and finally resorted to bodily separating them so that the game could continue.

And so the rest of the hour passed, people alternately drawing the short straw and waiting in the middle for their kissing partner to make their move. Alvin as kissed by two of the sisters once each and by Eleanor twice. Simon only drew short twice and both times got Britney. Theo also drew short twice, but he was kissed by Eleanor and Jeanette. Britney was kissed by all the boys once, and Eleanor drew short only once and was kissed by Simon. But Jeanette drew short five times. Three times were Simon, and twice was Theodore.

After awhile, they decided to check the clock and saw that they had to get to bed soon or else they wouldn't be able to get up in time for school. The boys went to the downstairs bathroom to do their night stuff while the girls hurried quietly upstairs to change and do all their stuff. At about five after Midnight, the kids were all in their respective bags and were drifting off to sleep, but somehow, in all the chaos of the kissing game, Britney's bag managed to go missing and she cuddled up with Alvin on the couch while Theo and Ellie slept side by side on the floor and Simon and Jeanette slept facing different directions with their heads next to each other so that they could kiss goodnight once the lights were out. All in all, the entire group drifted off into a blissful sleep with each couple wearing their own secret, contented smile.

_**I HOPE THAT YOU ALL ENJOYED THE FIRST PART OF THE Simon &Jeanette SECTION OF GtKY. PLEASE LOOK FORWARD TO MORE CHAPTERS AS THEY ARE PUBLISHED AND R&R. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, REQUESTS, OR JUST WANT TO DISCUSS YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE AND I WILL GET BACK TO YOU WITHIN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS.**_

_**THIS PARTICULAR CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO A COUPLE OF READERS BY THE NAMES OF, DiamondDiaz, Sergeant Daniel, Starbin21, and last but not least, StayBeautiful'Always. and SimonandJeanette4evr**_

_**This was for you guys. I hope you enjoyed.**_

_**PS- I have the outlines for at least six more chapters, so get your ideas to me if you want more! **_

_**Happy Reading,**_

_**musicalreader (Tom)**_


	16. Chapter 15

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XV

The alarm went off at ten to six. From the floor, the kids groaned as they woke up and fumbled around for the off button.

"Okay," Alvin groaned, "Ladies first, that goes for getting up and getting washed and dressed."

"Oh you're so kind Alvin." Britney said sarcastically, getting up from her spot on the couch, where her back had been comfortably against his front keeping warm under the unzipped sleeping bag they had used as a comforter the night before.

"Theo," Ellie called from down the hall as she walked towards the bathroom, "Could you start cooking some breakfast? There's the blood drive at school today remember."

"Got it El," Theo replied sleepily, stifling a yawn from his spot on the floor.

"You're not getting up to make us breakfast are you Theo." Simon stated once Jeanette and her sisters had finally left the room and were getting ready for the day.

"Nope, do you want to?" he offered in reply.

"Sure, why not. All I have to do is scramble some eggs and make some toast right?" Simon questioned, pushing himself up onto his elbows as he struggled through the fog of residual sleep and stumbled to the kitchen.

"Yeah, the coffee maker is already set for six ten so forget about making that," Theo instructed, surprisingly lucid for claiming to be sleepy, "Oh, but get a grapefruit out for me and Ellie would you?"

"Yeah sure," Simon said unaffectedly. He wasn't that hungry but he had some time to kill while the girls were getting washed and dressed.

As he was cracking the eggs over the bowl, Eleanor came into the kitchen. Her hair still a bit wet, but she sat down to watch anyway. He fumbled the first egg and had to pick the shell out of the yolk which made Eleanor giggle a little bit. He ignored her and successfully cracked the second egg in two.

When he had managed to repeat the act about four more times, he beat the eggs until it just looked like a yellowy paste in a bowl. By now, the stove top and the pan were hot enough and he started to pour them into the hot skillet and began to move them around them slowly. Ellie apparently didn't approve of the job he was doing and walked over to where he was struggling at the stove to help him out. He backed away as he began to whip up six even shares of beautiful eggs and he just stood in the corner buttering toast.

"Well, I guess I know now why Theo's always bragging about you in your cooking class." Simon said appreciatively.

"He brags about me?" she asked stunned.

"Oh yeah, all the time, it's actually rather annoying after a while, but he means well." Simon finished as he left the room to go do his own morning stuff.

As he walked out, Theo walked in, clean and ready to eat. But when he went to pick up his plate of food, Eleanor smacked his hand away with the still warm spatula.

"Ow!" he said exasperatedly, "What was that for?"

"That's for making Simon cook when I asked you to." She said sternly, though a little bit jokingly as well, "Now you don't get to eat until Simon gets his plate."

"Humph," he grumbled, sinking into a chair, though he was careful not to go near the food again until everyone had walked in ready for the day.

The group sat around the table for and ate quickly, understandable since they were almost late. When they had eaten what was on their plates and put the dishes away, they headed out for their rides and left the house. By the time they arrived at school, they had all finally woken up and were ready to talk about their classes and their plans for the day. Simon walked Jeanette to her locker and was happily talking away to her about the upcoming Science test when his face suddenly screwed up in an expression of abject loathing. When Jeanette tried to turn and see what it was behind he that had brought on this sudden change, Simon spun her back around and hissed, "don't move, don't say anything, and whatever you do, don't turn around."

She promptly ignored him and turned her head to check whatever it was out, she was surprised to see that it was just a group of guys laughing their way down the hall. As they got closer, she could see that most of them had on a pink shirt of some kind and leather jackets. On top of their heads they wore their hair with looked like an oily layer of grease that she could only assume was hair gel. Was this Bill and his gang, she wondered. Before she could turn around to face Simon and ask, the tallest one of the group met her gaze and smiled maliciously and started to saunter over to her.

When he got over to Jeanette and Simon, he grinned again to show off his smoke stained teeth and he started to speak to her, "Hey there baby, where have you been?" he asked in a thick southern drawl.

"Back off asshole," Simon said, stepping forward threateningly, "You try anything funny with her and I can guarantee that my brothers and I will kick your ass."

"Well would you look what we have here boys!" Bill said, switching his focus to Simon, "Looks like we got a hero. What is this, twice in one week that I'm going to kick your ass?"

"You haven't kicked my ass today." Simon answered, confused, right before he was slammed backwards in to the locker by a couple of the smaller guys in the group.

"Oh but I will." Bill said leaning forward into Simon's face threateningly.

"Stop it!" Jeanette said, getting in between the two boys, using her body as a shield.

"Jeanette, go get the guys." Simon whispered into her ears, his arms still pinned to the metal doors of the lockers.

"Oh so _**you're**_ Jeanette. Strange, I remember you being a lot uglier. Glad to see that you improved." Bill said licking his lips.

Before he could get any closer to her, she ducked out of the circle of pink shirts and ran off down the hall looking for Alvin and Theodore.

As she disappeared around the corner, Bill was free to turn his attention undivided to Simon yet again. He backed up a step and Simon relaxed slightly. Big mistake; the next thing Simon knew, Bill had balled his fist up and slammed his whole weight behind one punch to his already bruised stomach, almost causing him to throw up. Bill grabbed his head by the hair and pulled him up to face him. Their faces inches away from each other…

"You just don't learn do you nerd boy?" he asked sarcastically, "If you ever talk to me that way again, I will make damn sure that you never speak again."

He let go of Simon's head and motioned for his goons to do the same with his arms, as he walked away down the hall, he glanced back and said, "By the way, if I were you, I'd watch that girl of yours, you never know who she'll be riding next."

Simon's vision fuzzed a little and he had to sit up and put his head between his knees to get the room to stop spinning. Just as he was considering standing up again though, Theo, Alvin, and Jeanette sprinted down the hall and knelt next to him.

"Simon," Jeanette gasped, seeing how he was holding his stomach, "Did he hit you again?"

"Again!?" Alvin asked shocked, "Where the hell is this guy, I need a workout."

"Calm down Alvin, first things first, find out what happened." Theodore cautioned, looking expectantly at Simon and Jeanette.

"What happened was Bill came out of nowhere and started to come on to me." Jeanette said quickly, "Then Simon tries to protect me and the next thing I know, he's pinned to the lockers and he tells me to go get you two."

"Is that all that happened Simon?" Theo asked, looking concernedly at Simon.

"No, he also slugged me in the gut again and told me that if I wasn't careful and watched how I talked to him that he'd make sure I never spoke again." Simon said as he got up off the floor.

"That is not good." Theo summed up, fear in his eyes, "I heard about Bill from some of the guys on field. They said that the reason he got kicked out of his last school was because he pulled a knife on this guy he had just beaten up and was about to cut him by the time the cops showed up to stop him."

"Well, whatever the hell he did, if he tries anything, I'm going to personally kick his ass." Alvin swore, a look of absolute fury in his gaze as he stared into the locker behind Simon's head.

"Don't." Jeanette said forcefully, "I don't want anyone getting hurt, not you three and not Bill. I don't care what he did, if you get him then you're just as bad as he is."

"She's right." Simon agreed, "If he tries anything again, I'll just be sure to avoid getting pinned and I can defend myself. I took that self defense last year remember?"

"Alright," Alvin grumbled, "But what are you going to do if he goes after Jeanette though." He asked forebodingly.

"If he tries anything with me," Jeanette cut in, "I know what to do."

"Well, do you know what to do if you're late to class?" a voice said from behind them.

All four of them jumped and spun around to see the assistant principal standing there with his hands on his hips and a steely look in his eyes, "Now I can understand Alvin being late, but the rest of you, I am surprised. Didn't you hear the bell a few minutes ago?" he asked.

"No sir," Jeanette answered for them hurriedly, "But we have a good reason, you see…"

"I don't care about your excuses Jeanette. I just care that you get to class on time, but seeing as this is your first time being tardy this year and I see Simon and Theodore with you, I know you're not up to anything bad. Now get to your classes or I'll throw all four of you in detention."

"Yes sir," they answered in unison, heading to their different classes quickly, but not before telling each other that they would talk later at lunch.

When the lunch bell rang, the six friends met up in the courtyard and Jeanette and the boys filled in Britney and Eleanor on what had happened. When they were done, both of the girls agreed that it was best to simply avoid Bill and his group. Just then, Simon got a text message from one of his friends from gym class.

"You're not going to believe this, but Tony just heard that Bill got suspended for a week for fighting on school grounds. Apparently, the vice principal heard about the fight from a group in the hall this morning." He said, grinning at the realization of just what this news meant.

"So that's why he let us go this morning?" Alvin asked, "Because he got dirt on Bill?"

"That's what it looks like." Theo summed up happily, "I guess that you don't have to worry about him for a while huh Simon?"

"I guess not." He agreed happily, grinning at Jeanette, who smiled right back at him.

"What about the kids in his group?" Britney asked, "Aren't they going to do something to get even?"

"Not a chance," Simon said confidently, "They were nice guys before he recruited them, and I know for a fact that I'm stronger than any of them."

"Then how were they able to pin you to your locker?" Alvin asked, teasing his little brother.

"Because they acted as a group," Simon explained, "If they act as a mob, none of us would win, but if they try anything alone, I can easily throw them to the floor in under a minute."

"If you say so dude," Alvin said laughing and putting his arm around Brit's waist and walking her towards the exit to the parking lot.

"Where are you going?" Eleanor called after them.

"I'm treating Britney to lunch off campus, anyone want to come?" Alvin replied over his shoulder.

"I'm in!" Theo said happily, he loved eating at the nearby food places.

"I suppose I'll come too then." Eleanor said in agreement, sprinting to catch up.

"You in Simon? Jeanette?" Britney called back.

"No thanks!" Jeanette answered for them both, "We'll be in the library getting some work done."

"We are?" he asked, looking at her surprised.

"Well, I don't really know, but that sounds a lot better than, _**we're going to make out in the empty art room**_, don't you think?"

Simon pretended to think about it for a second or two. Then he smiled at her and placed his own arm around her waist and led her into the arts wing of the high school, "I guess it does."

"Say Jeanette," he started to ask as they walked through the doors into the hallway leading into the art hallway, "Are you doing anything this Friday night?"

"No, why?" she answered, looking up into his eyes hopefully.

"Because, I got two tickets to the observatory and I was looking for someone to go with. You like the stars don't you?" he said, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"I love the observatory!" Jeanette answered happily, squeezing his side in excitement, "It's the one place that sets my soul on fire and always gets new ideas in my head for writing."

"Well then, would you like to go with me?" he asked again.

"Of course Simon!" she replied, "And this will be our first real date by ourselves won't it?"

"I believe so yes." He said as he realized that she was dead right, they had never been on an official date by themselves since they started going out about three weeks ago.

"Then I'll make sure I wear something very special." She promised, her mind already gone on to Friday night.

Simon laughed and pulled her closer into his arms for a kiss, unaware that there was a spectator to their little public display of affection who had heard every word.

UH OH, WHO IS THIS PERSON IN THE SHADOWS. ARE THEY CONNECTED TO BILL? WHAT ARE THEY DOING SPYING ON JEANETTE AND SIMON? WHAT WILL THEIR DATE BE LIKE ON FRIDAY? FIND OUT THE ANSWERS TO ALL THESE AND MORE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER OF Getting to Know You.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will read the next one. I know I'll have fun writing it, so have fun reading it.

Happy Reading,

Musicalreader

PS- this chapter is dedicated to roguelover as well as Sergeant Daniel and yet again to Starbin21 and SimonandJeanette4evr. Here's to you guys!


	17. Chapter 16

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XVI

The next two days were some of the best Simon could remember. He was able to finally spend time with Jeanette alone, without the distraction of the various types of drama that seemed to follow him and his friends. Susan was released from the hospital and had settled into the girl's house without any problem and was now hanging out with them on a daily basis at lunch and in the morning. True, she had been rather scary a few weeks ago, but now that she had friends she could rely on and a home, she was as happy as the rest of them. And to top it all off, Simon had a date with his girlfriend to look forward to this weekend. Then Wednesday arrived…

"Did you guys hear what happened?" Alvin asked, startling Simon out of his thoughts as he gathered his things from his locker.

"No I didn't. What happened this time Alvin?" he asked, not especially caring either way in the least.

"Bill came back to school today." He said, anger seething just beneath the surface of his words.

"You're kidding!" Simon exclaimed, "I thought he was suspended for at least a week! How the hell did he get back so soon?!"

"From what I can tell," Alvin began, "Because no one actually saw him fighting you, he can't be given the full time, he got off after just two days."

"Damn it! And I have gym next. What the hell am I supposed to do? I promised Jeanette I wouldn't fight him."

"My advice," Alvin said sincerely, "If he hits you, just dodge. I've seen you play bombardment, you can move when you want to. You keep getting out of the way of anything he throws at you and eventually a teacher will notice."

Simon considered it for a second and realized that his older, if less intelligent, brother was right for once.

"Thanks for the tip Alvin." Simon said gratefully, "Where did you find this out form anyway?"

"I was in the principal's office for talking back to my math teacher." Alvin replied, smiling wickedly, his moment of maturity gone to the pages of memory.

"Why am I not surprised?" Simon asked sarcastically, though grinning in amusement at the same time.

"Hey, I gotta go meet up with Brit for Art class now so good luck alright?" he said, turning to walk down the hall.

"Okay then, see you later Alvin." Simon responded, walking the other way towards the gym, and hopefully, a hassle free period.

As it turns out, Simon had nothing to worry about. Even though he now knew for certain that Bill was back at school, his own source having confirmed it, he never showed up for class.

"Damn kid's always skipping…" the teacher had complained while taking roll call.

Though he was confused, Simon was not one to complain if Bill wasn't in their only class together, and he enjoyed a quiet class before being dismissed, tired and hungry, to lunch. When he got to the courtyard, he saw Jeanette sitting on one of the low lying stone walls, her books in her lap and looking around for him. When she finally saw him heading over, she grinned happily at him and motioned for him to sit beside her.

"Hey," she greeted, "Did you hear the news?"

"That's the second time I've heard that question today." He laughed, "What news is this?"

"Bill's back." She stated, her smile falling, "You promise you won't fight him?"

"I promise baby I promise." He swore, hand held high in a mock oath.

"Okay then." She said, smiling yet again, "Are you ready for the test today?"

"The science test?" he asked.

"No silly, that was Monday, I'm talking about the English test last period." She replied, glancing over the rim of her glasses at him jokingly.

"No, I forgot all about that one. I was getting drilled by Alvin all last night about being at the studio on time this afternoon." He said, irritation slipping into his tone as he remembered Alvin waking him up extra early that morning to remind him, for the tenth time.

"Shit!" Jeanette swore, "You mean that's this afternoon?!"

"Yeah," Simon answered, "Don't tell me you forgot." He said busting out laughing.

"It's not funny Simon!" Jeanette retorted, her voice rising into a cute peal of annoyance, "Brit is going to kill me if I don't know my lines for that. And I thought I had another two days too."

"Relax Jeannie, you'll do great, you always do." He reassured her, wrapping his arms around and kissing her on the back of the neck sending shivers up and down her spine.

"Not in public." She pleaded, though she offered no resistance, "Simon! Someone could see us!"

"Okay," he replied, backing off grudgingly.

Jeanette blushed and leaned into his ear to whisper something, "Thank you Simon, and I promise, I'll make up for it on Friday."

Her sultry voice, mixed with the hushed tone she had used and the promise of things to come were almost too much for Simon as he fought to keep his arousal in check. When he had calmed down a little bit, he carried on as if nothing had happened.

"So what class do you have next?" he asked.

"I have to go to Writing Elective next." She answered, making a face somewhere between disgust and annoyance.

"Isn't that just a fancy way to sat Study Hall?" he commented.

"Yeah, but I'm going to see if I can get a pass to the library and help out the librarians while I'm there." She said hopefully just as the bell rang for their five minute warning.

"Well, you have fun in the library alright? And see if you can pull up the lyrics off my flash drive for the recording session this afternoon." He said giving her the small piece of plastic he always traveled with.

"Thanks Simon!" she said gratefully, "I think you just saved my life from Britney."

"Well, we'd better get to class before we get killed by the assistant principal." Simon commented, pulling her into his arms one more time for a short, sweet kiss.

They both walked off to their classes with grins on their faces at the afternoon they would be able to share together with their siblings.

Jeanette had had no trouble getting the pass to the library and was sitting quietly in a corner sorting some of her favorite titles into sections and subsections for categorizing when the librarian came up behind her and asked if everything was alright.

"Yes ma'am," she replied respectfully, "I was wondering if you had any more copies of the Harry Potter books though, there seems to be a gap where year five is supposed to be."

"I'll check to see sweetie, but I think I just checked the last copy out." She answered, walking off to check in the computer.

Jeanette went back to her work quietly when someone came in the doors. She brushed it off as another freshman learning about the school. Still, something possessed her to look up and what she saw actually startled her enough to let out a slight squeak. Standing there in the entrance was none other than Bill. He looked around bored until his eyes caught sight of her sitting in the corner, then he got a crazy look on his face and an insane grin. She tried to make herself as small as possible in the hopes that he would lose interest. No such luck.

"Well what do we have here?" he asked when he got closer, making the hair on the back of her neck rise.

"Well?" he asked, leaning in further, "I asked what you were doing you stupid geek."

"If you want to impress someone, you should try acting nicer." She said cutting him off, not giving him the pleasure of having his question answered.

"Ooooh, feisty, I like that you know, come on, your boyfriend isn't around, how about you give me a kiss and I leave you alone for a while?" he continued, careful to act natural lest the librarians kick him out or write him up.

"How about you go away and find someone else who actually wants to be your friend?" she retorted, not bothering to keep her volume in check.

"Hey now, I was being nice. And I have plenty of friends, you saw them Monday when I beat the shit out of that little bitch you go out with." He responded, obviously not getting the hint or else ignoring it, "So in case you missed it then, let me make this clear, I want you and I intend to have you."

"Clearly, you missed what I said earlier as well. the answer is and always will be no. and as for your friends, they just hang out with you because you scare them and they're afraid to stand up to you the way Simon does."

"That little puke is nothing more than an ant. If he's so brave, then why does he get beaten so easily?" he asked, seeing that he was finally getting under her skin, "A wimp like him doesn't deserve to have a delicious piece of ass like you."

"Are you under the impression that you're flattering me?" she asked incredulously.

"Wow, for a nerd, you can recognize when a guy is hitting on you. You never cease to amaze Jeanette." he said grinning like the asshole he was.

"You know," she began, finally putting her book down and giving him her full attention, "I wonder, are you acting like this because you simply don't know how to talk to people, or re you acting like a big tough guy because you have a small penis?"

His mouth dropped and his face flushed after that last comment, but he regained his composure and continued, "It's neither, especially the penis one. I can show you if you like." He offered, much to her utter disgust.

"Uggghhhhh!" she cried out, "Don't even try that unless you want to go to prison. I am dead serious." She warned, "And if you mess with Simon again, I will personally see you expelled."

"Now why would you do that sweet thing?" he asked, trying his best to look innocent, "Why would you want them, to get rid of the one guy who could satisfy you like no other? Do you hate me?"

"I don't hate anyone, but you are acting like the type of person that I wish someone would just crate up and ship away to a deserted island in the dead center of the ocean." She answered, meaning every word of what she said, "Now for the last time, leave me alone and don't even talk to me or Simon again."

"Is something wrong over here?" the librarian asked walking over and seeing the two of them glaring at each other

"No ma'am," he responded quickly, before Jeanette could say anything to the contrary. When she had walked away, he refocused on Jeanette only for a moment.

"Just remember to come find me when you get bored with that nerd of yours." He told her as he turned on his heel and walked out leaving her alone in the quiet sanctuary of books

Simon was itching for the last period bell to ring so that he could head over to the science room and get back to talking to Jeanette. As soon as it did ring, he was the first one to the door and down the hall. He finally reached the science wing to see Jeanette standing outside it with her arms folded across her chest and a brooding look across her face. He knew this look from the times she had fallen victim to one of Alvin's childish pranks. Whatever it was, he knew that he would like it even less than she did.

"Hey Jeannie, what happened?" he asked as he walked over to her.

"Nothing, I just talked with Bill is all. Well, actually, he talked to me." She answered, instantly confirming his suspicion that he would dislike whatever it was.

"What did he want?" Simon asked, biting back his frustration.

"First he wanted to know what I was doing in the library, then he flirted with me and finally mentioned that he would have me one way or another. In any case, I'm trying to figure out why he's so interested in me…" she said, as if it were all one big thought.

"I'm going to kill him." Simon swore, "First he messes with you in front of my face and now he has the nerve to say that he's going to _**have**_ you? What the hell is his problem?"

"I suspect that he has a small penis." She answered, actually getting Simon to laugh.

"Well, I guess that would explain it," He conceded, "Tell you what; let's continue this discussion later after the recording session this afternoon. We're doing a few angry pieces and I want to be in character for them."

"Sounds like a plan." She said smiling up at him, which is saying quite a lot for Simon given that Jeanette herself was almost six feet tall.

They walked into the science room and took their seats in the front of the class just as the final bell rang and the teacher shut the door. After class was over, they headed over to the parking lot to wait for their siblings so that they could head over to the recording studio downtown as a group. When all six of them were ready, they pulled out of the parking lot and headed over to Noizee Records. They were greeted by Tom as they walked through the door.

"Hey you guys!" he greeted them, in his usual hyper way. He had been especially energetic as of late due to the fact that all six of them were finally going out and he was always a romantic.

"So," he began, ushering them into the back, "What are you going to do today?"

Alvin spoke for the group, as usual, "We're going for a couple of tracks for today, and we'll do the rest of the album probably next month with Dave."

"Okay, and what songs should I pull up? Or did you bring me a CD of the background?" he asked, suddenly all business.

"We're going to start with _**9 To 5**_. Then hopefully pull off _**The Time Warp**_ before calling it a day." Alvin instructed; his role as leader blatantly obvious.

"Okay then, does that sound like what you guys want to do?" Tom asked, this time addressing the rest of the group. They had no problem and were actually in a hurry to get started.

Tom shut them into the recording booth and reappeared at the control panel. He flicked on the mic and ran them through the usual rundown for recording. They smiled and nodded politely, having heard the lecture dozens of times and practically memorized. When he was done, Tom flipped a new switch and a small screen popped up in the midst of the group that displayed the music and lyrics in case they forgot them.

"Wow," Simon said, impressed by the new feature, "Bet that comes in handy"

"It will," Tom said over the intercom before starting the master track for Mony Mony.

As the first few chords resonated off of the padded walls, you could see a physical change come over the kids as the music poured over them and they took on the personification of the song…

Simon stepped up to the mic, becoming the lead,

"It's astounding  
Time is fleeting  
Madness takes it's toll...  
But listen closely..."

Eleanor came in, acting as his partner for this song

"Not for very much longer..."

"I've got to keep control.  
I remember doing the Time Warp.  
Drinking those moments when  
The blackness would hit me."

Then as a duet, "And the void would be calling."

Finally, the siblings all came in,  
"Let's do the Time Warp again.  
Let's do the Time Warp again.

Theo came closer to the mic and spoke,  
"It's just a jump to the left."

Then as a group, they completed his statement  
"And then a step to the right."

Theo again  
"With your hand on your hips."

"You bring your knees in tight.  
But it's the pelvic thrust.  
They really drive you insane.  
Let's do the Time Warp again.  
Let's do the Time Warp again."

"It's so dreamy  
Oh, fantasy free me  
So you can't see me  
No not at all."

"In another dimension  
With voyeuristic intention.  
Well secluded I see all..."

"With a bit of a mind flip..."

"You're into a time slip...  
And nothing can ever be the same.  
You're spaced out on sensation.  
Like you're under sedation.  
Let's do the Time Warp again.  
Let's do the Time Warp again."

Britney came in for her solo,  
"Well, I was walking down the street  
Just having a think  
When a snake of a guy  
Gave me an evil wink.  
Well it shook me up  
It took me by surprise  
He had a pick-up truck  
And the devil's eyes  
He stared at me  
And I felt a change  
Time meant nothing  
Never would again."

"Let's do the Time Warp again.  
Let's do the Time Warp again.

"It's just a jump to the left.  
And then a step to the right.  
With your hands on your hips.  
You bring you knees in tight.  
But it's the pelvic thrust...  
That really drives you insane  
Let's do the Time Warp again.  
Let's do the Time Warp again.  
Let's do the Time Warp again

"Let's do the Time Warp again.  
Let's do the Time Warp again.  
It's just a jump to the left.  
And then a step to the right.  
With your hands on your hips.  
You bring your knees in tight.  
But it's the pelvic thrust  
They really drive you insane.  
Let's do the Time Warp again.  
Let's do the Time Warp again."

As the final notes faded out on the speakers, they came down from the musical high of the song and they glanced at each other smiling. No matter what had ever happened between the kids, no matter what drama was going on, you could always count on them to give a great performance.

"Great job you guys!" Tom commented from the operating board, "Are you ready for your next song or do you want to take five?"

Alvin looked around at the other excited faces standing around him and beamed back, "Let's hit it Tom!"

"Okay then." Tom replied, hitting the play button for the next song.

Britney began to tap her foot as the first few bars scrolled past on the monitor and the first lines scrolled up…

"Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen  
Pour myself a cup of ambition  
And yawn and stretch and try to come to life  
I jump in the shower and the blood starts pumpin'  
Out on the street the traffic starts jumpin'  
For folks like me on the job from 9 to 5" 

Then her sisters came in,

"Workin' 9 to 5  
What a way to make a livin'  
Barely gettin' by  
It's all takin' and no givin'  
They just use your mind  
And they never give you credit  
It's enough to drive you  
Crazy if you let it  
9 to 5 for service and devotion  
You would think that I  
Would deserve a fair promotion  
Want to move ahead  
But the boss won't seem to let me  
I swear sometimes that man is  
Out to get me

Now it was Theodore's turn to sing the lead for the guys,

"Well, they let you dream just to watch 'em shatter  
You're just a step on the boss man's ladder  
But you've got dreams he'll never take away  
Well you're in the same boat with a lot of your friends  
Waitin' for the day, the ship to come in  
And the tide's gonna turn and it's all gonna roll your way" 

Finally, with all the kids together,

"Workin' 9 to 5  
What a way to make a livin'  
Barely gettin' by  
It's all takin' and no givin'  
They just use your mind  
And they never give you credit  
It's enough to drive you  
Crazy if you let it  
9 to 5 for service and devotion  
You would think that I  
Would deserve a fair promotion  
Want to move ahead  
But the boss won't seem to let me  
I swear sometimes that man is  
Out to get me"

"9 to 5, they got you where they want you  
There's a better life  
And you think about it don't ya  
It's a rich man's game  
No matter what they call it  
And you'll spend your life  
Puttin' money in his wallet"

"Workin' 9 to 5  
What a way to make a livin'  
Barely gettin' by  
It's all takin' and no givin'  
They just use your mind  
And they never give you credit  
It's enough to drive you  
Crazy if you let it  
9 to 5 for service and devotion  
You would think that I  
Would deserve a fair promotion  
Want to move ahead  
But the boss won't seem to let me  
I swear sometimes that man is  
Out to get me"

When they were all done, and had gotten the all clear sign from Tom, they walked out the studio door to be congratulated on yet another job well done. While Alvin and Britney were talking over things for the record with Tom and Ellie and Theo were attacking the snack cart, Simon and Jeanette found quite possibly the only quiet corner in the entire building to talk.

"So are you going to tell me what it was we were talking about earlier that we never got to finish?" he asked, the successful recording having caused him to forget about almost everything unpleasant that had happened that day.

"I think it had something to do with Bill…" she guessed, having completely forgotten herself.

"Well, now that you mention him, I have a question to ask you." Simon began, turning serious for a second or two.

"What is it?" Jeanette asked, genuinely curious as to what was going through his mind.

"I know I promised to not fight him earlier, and I know you said you could defend yourself…" he prefaced, "But what should I do if he hurts you?"

"Oh," she answered, taken a little aback, having never considered that fact, "I guess, if you absolutely have to hurt him to protect someone, then it would be okay. But no fighting if you are still able to talk things out, agreed?"

"Agreed." He answered seriously.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, he turned to her to discuss their date that Friday. By the time they were done, Alvin and Britney had finished whatever it was they were talking about with Tom, and Theo and Ellie had about five snacks in their arms as they got up to leave as a group. They all piled into their respective cars, Simon and Jeanette in her truck, Alvin and Britney in his car, and Theo and Ellie in his van. Simon had no idea what was happening in the other two cars, but he knew that his and Jeanette's ride was peaceful except for the music on the radio.

They pulled up to the Chipettes house before any of their siblings and were saying goodnight when Miss Miller came to the door and told them to hurry up.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Jeanette said, turning to the door, ready to walk inside.

"Wait Jeanette, don't I get a goodnight kiss?" he asked innocently.

"Simon Seville, you are too bold." She responded, laughing at the brazen remark, but still leaning upwards to give him one final kiss before their siblings showed up.

Simon had other plans for that quick little kiss however and when she was close enough, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in so quickly that she gasped a little before relaxing into his arms. Their lips met and seemed to melt into one as they couldn't seem to stop. Jeanette was even so bold as to slip her tongue out from her mouth and brush his lips lightly before finally mustering all of her willpower to pull away and walk inside in a delighted daze.

As he walked back to the sidewalk to wait for one of his brothers to come pick him up, Simon couldn't repress the stupid grin that was spreading across his usually stoic expression. His thoughts drifted away from the usual path of school, brothers, and homework and he found himself swimming in torrid thoughts of what they would do on Friday. He knew only one thing for certain as he sat there staring at a beautiful orange and blood red sunset, he knew that their date that Friday would be unforgettable…

_**THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS, THE LOVE BIRDS ARE PREPARING FOR THEIR AMOROUS ADVENTURE ON FRIDAY AND I SUGGEST THAT YOU DO AS WELL. I KNOW I'M JUST THE GUY WHO WRITES THE STORY, LONG WINDED THOUGH I AM, BUT I FEEL THAT THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE VERY SPECIAL FOR THEM, AND FOR US WHO LOVE TO WATCH THESE KIDS GROW AND MATURE BEFORE OUR OWN EYES. IN ANY EVENT, YOU KNOW THE DRILL, R&R IN THE REVIEWS WINDOW, ADD THIS TO YOUR FAVORITES IF YOU LIKE OR DON'T, BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE WITH WHATEVER IT IS. I ALSO ACCEPT BETA REQUESTS AND WILL ACCEPT REQUESTS FOR CERTAIN STORYLINES IN THE FUTURE.**_

_**Happy Reading,**_

_**musicalreader**_


	18. Chapter 17

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XVII

_Writers note, because of some questions about my character designs, I have posted a chart for each character as I see them when I write on my profile page if you get lost or confused. Yes it includes links to pictures, and yes they are completely human. they just record like the Chipmunks and Chipettes._

Previously, on Getting to Know You…

Long story short, Simon asked Jeanette out on a date and she said yes, and Bill came back and seems intent on taking Jeanette from Simon. Jeanette made Simon promise not to mess with Bill unless he had to protect someone and the kids recorded some more songs. Now on to the date!

Jeanette was waiting rather impatiently for the bell to ring in eighth period and dismiss the school for the weekend. She had once had a lot of trouble understanding girls like Britney who got all worked up for the weekend to start, and now she found herself in the exact same position. Life was funny that way. Finally, the bell rang and for once, she was the first one to reach the door and be out the front of the school waiting by her car when Simon came walking over, his face looking just as excited about the evening as she felt.

"Hey!" he greeted her, beaming, "You ready to get going?"

"Yeah." She replied happily, "But shouldn't we wait for the others?"

"Uhhh, let me think about that… no." he answered quickly, "Alvin and Britney are already gone and Theo and Ellie are doing who knows what over at the sports shed."

"Oh." Jeanette replied shocked, she would probably never get over the fact that her little sister was just shy of being a nymphomaniac, "How did you find all that out?"

"I texted Alvin on my way over and Theo had that stupid grin on his face all lunch like he was expecting something and then Eleanor asked for his help in the sports shed and that look just grew bigger so…" he answered a little embarrassed, though not embarrassed enough to keep him from nudging Jeanette to get into his car so he could drive her home.

She giggled a little bit when she realized that she was holding them up, then she crawled into the passenger seat and they peeled out of the parking lot and headed for her house. When they reached the Chipettes house, Simon unlocked the car doors and let her know that he would be back at six to pick her up and warned her to dress casual. She nodded, smiled at him, and walked in the door, her hips swaying seductively, but not at all forced. Simon thought for a minute about how fluidly she could move when she wasn't spacing out as he took off for home to make himself presentable for her on their first real date.

Jeanette ran inside to get ready. She was so excited to go out tonight that she didn't even notice that her mom was waiting at the dining room table with her arms crossed.

"Mm-hmm" Miss Miller coughed, startling her daughter enough to make her jump.

When she had recovered and saw who it was that had made the noise, Jeanette smiled and asked how her day was.

"My day was good, yours?" Miss Miller replied, "I remember hearing that you and Simon have a date tonight, is that correct?"

"Yes ma'am," Jeanette answered respectfully, she had been expecting an interrogation, but she wished that her mom would just cut to the point, "He's taking me to the observatory to see the light show."

"Light show?" Miss Miller asked, "What exactly is that?"

"They project scenes from the telescope onto the ceiling and play music in the background. It's one of the things that I've always wanted to do." She explained, hoping that her mom would be reassured and not assume the worst.

"So you're going to be in the dark for what, two hours?" Miss Miller continued, a stern look coming over her, "What are you going to do after that?"

"I think he said something about going to get some food and then bringing me home."

"Well, you're the last of your sisters to go out with their boyfriends alone, so you know what I'm going to say now right?" Miss Miller questioned, finally getting to the part that Jeanette had been secretly dreading.

"Yes Mom, and I can assure you that I'm not going to let anything unsafe happen between me and Simon. he's just as uncomfortable as I am about moving fast." She explained.

"Is that so?" her mom asked, her eyebrows raising slightly at the mature decision, "Well, even if that is the case, I still want you to be careful and dress modestly tonight."

"Mom," Jeanette interrupted, blushing slightly, "We're going to the observatory, what makes you think that I'm going to dress provocatively, besides, he said to dress casually. Now if you'll please excuse me, I have to go wash up."

"Of course sweetie, I just worry about you sometimes."Miss Miller tried to justify, "I mean, your sisters are already active, I guess I just want to keep you pure for a while longer."

"I understand mom." Jeanette said, smiling softly at her adoptive mother, "But you do realize that I'm not exactly a little girl anymore right?"

"Yes I know, but I can still try right?" she responded, grabbing her middle daughters hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

After sitting there for a minute more, Jeanette stood up and walked upstairs to the shower, her mother watching her until she was out of sight before putting her head down on the counter and sighing deeply. When Jeanette got upstairs, her first stop was inside her room to pick out her outfit. She pretty much had just the one look, jeans and a t-shirt, but she tried her best to pick out something nice anyway. She eventually settled for a plain thin purple shirt and a pair of faded jeans and some thin lace panties. She didn't think it would matter later, but they always made her feel beautiful when she wore them. She also borrowed a pair of Britney's ballet flats to complete the look. When she had her outfit ready and laid out on her bed, she took her clothes off, wrapped herself in a towel, and headed for the shower.

Jeanette turned the faucet on to warm and climbed over the edge of the tub to step into the heated stream of water as it made her skin prickle with sensation. As she began to lather her hair up, her thoughts turned to the conversation she had just had with her mother. She thought specifically about how soon her sisters had lost their virginity after going out with their boyfriends. Sure Ellie had at least waited at least a good two months, but she was pretty sure that that had been because of the close quarters in the tour bus. Now, Ellie and Theo were having sex about once or twice a week. She just couldn't see what the allure of the whole sexual experience was. She had masturbated before and had even had a couple of orgasms, but to have someone alien, even if it was Simon, touch her like that, she didn't see how she would ever get over the initial embarrassment.

As she imagined what it must have been like for her sisters their first time, her face flushed and her body grew warmer not from the water, but from her heart racing faster; she finally turned the water to cold and relaxed under the drops that fell upon her skin. When she stepped out of the shower, he mirror had condensed to the point that she had to take her towel off and use it to wipe down the glass. When she was able to see her reflection, she wrung out her hair over the sink and tried out a couple different styles before finally deciding on just letting it hang down before blow drying it. When she was through with her hair, she moved on to her makeup. She rarely used any on a usual day, so she decided not to use too much for tonight. When she was satisfied that her breath was fresh, her hair neat, her skin smooth and her eyes successfully accented, she walked out of the bathroom and went straight to her room to get dressed.

While Jeanette was getting ready at her house, Simon was busy being nervous and venting to his dad…

"Dave, what do I do if she thinks I'm trying to make a move when I'm not?" Simon asked nervously.

"I'm sure Jeanette won't assume the worst of you Simon, you've been friends long enough that I think she'll trust you. Now Miss Miller on the other hand…" he joked, laughing when Simon looked back at him with abject terror in his eyes.

"That's not even close to being funny." Simon grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest when he realized the joke.

"Aw Simon, I'm sure you'll have a great time together. Just remember what I told you okay?" Dave reminded, causing Simon to flashback uncomfortably to their awkward conversation about sex just a few minutes ago. The only way Simon had gotten Dave to stop talking was to remind him that he had taken sex ed. and that he and Jeanette had agreed to go slowly.

"Alright then," Dave said after a few minutes of silence, "You should go get washed up and dressed."

"Okay dad." Simon responded, getting up from his spot at the counter and heading upstairs to get in the shower.

He stepped into the stream of water when he had given it a chance to warm up and a chill ran up his spine as the drops fell on his skin and began to slough off his body, a small river forming in the valley in between his abs and falling off his broad shoulders. He thought momentarily of all the times when he was little that the other boys had made fun of him and his inability to put on any muscle. Now he was over six feet and was built with the form of a professional athlete. He lathered up and washed his crop of hair out and watched as the suds that rinsed off spiraled down the drain. After spending a little more time under the relaxing torrent of moisture, he grudgingly reached for the nozzle and turned the water off. As usual, his body immediately wished that he hadn't as the blast of built up cool air rushed into the space that the steam had occupied just moments ago. He reached for his towel quickly in an effort to stop the slight shivering and wrapped himself comfortably in the soft cloth.

Once his top half and his legs were dried off, he stepped out of the hard plastic of the tub and padded his way across the small enclosure and swiped the mist off the mirror. When his hair was wet, he was always surprised to see how long it had grown, there was a time that he had always kept it short, but this year, he had found himself neglecting his usual trips to the barber and was still surprised to see the curtain of black hair reaching down to his shoulders. He sighed in defeat and brushed the bangs out of his eyes and tied it all behind in a ponytail with a rubber band he had found on the counter. When he was satisfied with how he looked and how he smelled, he walked into his room to get dressed.

Simon's color had been blue for the longest time, just like Alvin's had always been red and Theo's green. But tonight, he figured he'd try something different. Due to his brothers and his success in the music business, he now had a wide variety of clothes to choose from. He had told Jeanette to dress casually and decided that he should try and do the same thing. After looking in his closet for a while, he finally decided on a thin maroon shirt with a giant black spade with some rock logo's surrounding it. The colors actually complimented his dark hair and the thinness of the material complimented his slim and muscular physique quite well. To finish the look, he slipped into some faded black jeans and laced up his high tops and walked out of the room to get the car started and say goodbye to his dad before leaving to go pick up his date.

It took him a grand total of five minutes to get to Jeanette's house from his by car. Luckily, he had been able to borrow Dave's the whole day, especially since he didn't own one. Anyway, he pulled up to the girl's house at about ten to seven. Surprisingly, Miss Miller was not on the porch like she had been when Alvin had asked Britney out. Maybe she just did that for the couples that she was concerned about. Oh well, he could ask her that when he went inside.

When the doorbell rang, Jeanette instinctively looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. It read 6:50; that meant that it was probably Simon at the front. She got up from her seat and walked over to the front door. When the door was opened, her jaw just about fell off of her face; Simon usually looked haggard from long nights of studying and a stressful environment usually caused by Alvin, but tonight, he must have taken a lot of care with his appearance because he looked drop dead gorgeous. His muscles were vaguely outlined by the thin shirt he wore underneath his long hair pulled back so that his face had an old world look to it.

"Can I come in?" He asked smiling at her.

"Of course! Come on in." She replied, trying to contain her excitement and surprise.

When he was shown into the front room, Miss Miller came in from her room and sat down across from Simon. Jeanette had been afraid of this. She had made a big show about Britney when Alvin had come to pick her up, but she had thought that she would at least tone down the intimidation act a little for her sake. To his credit, Simon took the sudden appearance of her mom very well, smiling graciously the whole time.

"So you and Jeanette are going to go out tonight to the observatory?" Miss Miller asked.

"That is the general plan yes." Simon responded.

"And what are you going to do after the show is over?"

"Well, I was thinking of going out to the field in the park and doing some stargazing with her before heading home."

"And how long are you going to just stare at the sky?" Miss Miller continued, clearly not done with the inquisition.

"Depends on Jeanette, I can get in as late as I want tonight, but I don't want to get her in trouble with you." He answered.

"I want her here, at home, safe and sound no later than 11:30." Miss Miller supplied, her icy gaze drifting momentarily from Simon to Jeanette.

"I have no problem with that ma'am." Simon said respectfully, "Just so you know, the show is over officially at 10:30."

"I thought you said it ended at 11:00." Jeanette said confused.

"The guy who works the projector is sick," he explained, "So they decided to start the show earlier and get him home sooner."

"And how do you know this?" Miss Miller asked curiously.

"I know him from a summer job freshman year and we still keep in touch." He explained matter-of-factly.

"Well, in that case, you should get going then shouldn't you?" Miss Miller said, ushering them both out the door, obviously pleased that she could trust Simon.

When the door was shut behind them, Jeanette looked up at Simon just in time to see him breathe a sigh of relief. She giggled a little and asked what he had been nervous about.

"If you must know, your mom can be a very scary woman." He said bending down to whisper conspiratorially in her ear, eliciting only more laughter from her angelic voice.

They walked to the car, their arms wrapped around each other's waist, Miss Miller watching the whole time from the window, unseen. As they pulled away into the afternoon light, she smiled as she remembered being a high school girl on her first date. She closed the curtain hesitantly long after they had disappeared on the horizon line and went to sit in her chair and take a nap to the evening news.

They had been driving for about five minutes with only the sound of the radio playing Journey when the curiosity finally got the better of Jeanette.

"Where are we going?" she asked excitedly, sounding for a second like she had when they were little kids.

"Well, like I told your mom, I'm taking you to the observatory for the show and then to the field, and finally back to your house." he answered, smiling slyly before continuing, "What I didn't tell either of you though, is what we're going to do before the show."

"But it starts at nine." Jeanette said, "What are we going to do until then? It's 8:15 now."

"That's part of the surprise." Simon hinted mysteriously, "I have no idea what we're going to do. I was going to let you tell me where you want to go."

Jeanette had never seen this side of him before, Simon was always the one with the plan, at the moment, he was flying without any hint of a map. She wasn't sure if she liked this side of him or was intimidated by it. Nevertheless, if he could step out of his comfort zone, so could she. She told him that she really wanted to go get something from the mall. He immediately changed lanes and took the back road to the mall and when they parked, he got out and walked over to her side of the car to open her door.

They walked through the doors and were taken captive by the vast array of colors that the various medley of shops was bathed in. There were the neon lights of the skate and tattoo shops, the softer tones of the clothing shops, and the rotating signs on the electronics and gaming stores. There was even a softer kind of pastel that served as the main décor for the book store and coffee shops. Jeanette saw that Simon was hesitant to lead the way so she took point and grabbed his hand to help him navigate the crowds towards one of her favorite shops, not that she would admit it to anyone outside of family and Simon.

The Cat's Eye was a relatively small affair in contrast to the rest of the shops nearby, but that was part of the allure of it all. Jeanette had been in only a couple times before, and though she had never bought anything before, she had always wanted to get something. The clothes on the wall weren't exactly something you'd find on the property of an Old Navy or Dillard's and that just added to the mystique of it all.

She turned around to see what Simon's reaction would be, what she saw was quite possibly the reddest face in the history of the world. Although she didn't see the point in him being embarrassed, after all, he looked the part with his deep blue eyes, long Black hair pulled back, and tight dark shirt, to fit in well enough at a Goth clothing shop. She squeezed his hand to let him know that she was still there and was surprised to see him jump a little before refocusing on her. He smiled nervously and walked with her until they found the back where the more risqué outfits were kept.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" a voice asked them from behind as Jeanette was looking at the selections of black skirts, ripped jeans, and revealing tops all scrawled with bands that she had never heard of.

They turned around to see a girl that looked about their age standing almost inches away dressed in similar clothes to what they had just been looking at.

Jeanette stepped forward clutching a black skirt with the edges shredded and red strips of cloth mixed in that made it look like the wearer was dripping blood, "I was wondering if you could help me out, I need to find this in a size 7?"

"Sure, just follow me." The sales person said, smiling at them before taking one of the skirts off the rack as well as a couple of blouses and leading Jeanette off into the back to show her the changing room.

Simon was left alone to wait there in the back of the shop alone amongst the strange clothes and the images of the heavy metal bands. After a few minutes, he looked around lazily and saw someone who looked a lot like Jeanette walking forward. The person smiled at him and said hello. He gave a polite nod and went back to looking around at the band posters and logos.

"Simon?" the stranger said impatiently, "What do you think?"

It took a few seconds to register, but eventually Simon realized that the stranger was Jeanette in a different outfit. Not just an outfit, her hair was redone somehow. It had the same length, but instead of being pulled back, it hung down almost to the middle of her back. Just how long had she been back there in the changing room?

When he regained his power of speech, he blushed and told her that she looked beautiful. And she truly did.

"Do you really think so?" she asked, sounding unsure of herself.

"Absolutely babe," he reassured her, stepping closer to get a better look at her new look.

"Sydney helped me pick out the shirt." she explained as the sales person, Sydney walked around the corner and smiled at Simon.

"So what do you think?" she asked, gesturing to Jeanette, "I could help you pick out a new outfit if you like. But I think we would have to go to the guys section…" She offered.

"Oh please do it Simon!" Jeanette egged on excitedly, "I want to see what you would look like as a Goth."

"He could actually pull off the look quite well." Sydney agreed, "Especially with the hair and the build."

"If you really want me to…" Simon conceded, much to Jeanette's excitement.

He allowed himself to be led away to the guy's section where Sydney picked out a couple of shirts, thankfully without bands on them, and a couple pairs of jeans and finally some belts before leading him into the back with the dressing room. She handed him one of the pairs of black jeans and a blood red shirt with black trim and swirls that took the profile of a smoky skull in the dead center on the front and back. When he stepped out, Sydney's jaw dropped and she muttered something about all the good looking guys being taken before leading him out to Jeanette.

With their similar attire, Simon and Jeanette actually looked like a couple. As they walked to the front to pay, Simon's treat of course, Sydney showed him a small glass vial of milky white liquid and told him that if he really wanted to have some fun, to just take the small applicator inside and pass it through his hair for some white stripes in his dark hair.

"Not even kidding, this stuff would look great on you no matter what you wore." Sydney mentioned, and at Jeanette's request, he bought the small glass bottle.

Before they left, Sydney even took the time to apply the first few stripes in his hair, much to Jeanette's amusement. They walked out to the bustle of the crowd of teenagers and got several approving glances from some of the surrounding populace who were in similar outfits. Simon had to admit, he definitely felt different in the new clothes and Jeanette had a new glow around her, almost like the change in fashion had brought out a new side in her personality. He _**liked**_ it.

"So what are we going to do now?" she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Simon looked at his watch and saw that they had about fifteen minutes to get over to the observatory for the show. When he explained to her that they were ten minutes away and that they needed to get back to the car, her face lit up in excitement and she practically dragged him out of the mall to drive them to the show. One thing was for certain, had he not known that it was Jeanette, he would have been very confused to see such an exuberant Goth out on the streets.

They arrived at the observatory with about three minutes to spare. They hustled up the steps to the front and were pleasantly surprised to see that the manager standing at the ticket counter. He looked at them suspiciously before realizing who they were. When he recognized them, he smiled and handed Simon the two tickets and showed them to their seats before hurrying out of the room to start the musical light show.

"What's it like Simon?" Jeanette asked quietly, careful not to disturb the other people in the theatre.

"You'll love it Jeanette," he replied, grinning like a maniac, "They start out with a view of the night sky from right overhead, then they start to show you what it's like to fly through the cosmos, and they even do close up fly-by's of the planets before finally rounding back to the sun and plunging you headfirst into a solar storm."

"Do they play music like I read?" she continued, her eyes twinkling in almost child like delight.

"Yeah, I don't know if they changed the playlist since I was here last, but last time, they played all the best songs. There was Bon Jovi, Quiet Riot, Culture Club, and there was even a few Queen songs mixed in." he told her, remembering how nice it had been to see the entire solar system while listening to some of his favorite songs.

"Is it going to start soon?" she persisted, turning in her seat to look around the spacious room.

"Sit down Jeanette, they're about to." Simon instructed her, smiling to himself at how easily amazed she was. It was just one of the many things that he liked about her.

The lights dimmed and a voice came over the speakers and announced that they were about to embark on a trip through the stars. When the voice was done, the opening riff to Coheed and Cambria's Welcome Home roared over them and they were whisked out of their seats and into the heavens.

Jeanette's eyes filled with wonder as they left the atmosphere and looked back in time to see the city zoom out as they got further and further away as they flew towards the moon and changed course right before impact to fly through the largest crater on the light side. They saw the flag from the Apollo 11 mission before continuing on. The pinpoints of light grew blurred as they accelerated enough to rapidly close the distance between the moon and Mars. In the background, Simon took note of the song reaching a crescendo in the middle of the solo.

"_**Here laid to rest, is A love ever longed  
With truth on the shores of compassion  
You seem to take premise to all of these songs**_They continued through their tour of their corner of the galaxy, but by this point, Simon was concentrating on the lyrics to the song rather than the visions overhead.

You stormed off to scar the armada  
Like Jesus played martyr  
I'll drill through your hands

The stone for the curse you have blamed me  
With love and devotion, I'll die as you sleep."

_**"One last kiss for you  
One more wish to you  
Please make up your mind girl,  
I'd do anything for you**_

One last kiss for you  
One more wish to you  
Please make up your mind girl  
Before I hope you die."

When the song was over, he refocused on the scene overhead and tried to figure out where they were. He had effectively zoned out for the whole of Jupiter and Saturn and they were now fast approaching the moons of Uranus. As the music died down and they rounded the largest moon Titania, the song changed from the angry, warlike tones to a mellower and gentler tone. While Jeanette was enjoying the view of the heavens and the lights, Simon tried to figure out what the song was. It took him a few seconds longer than normal, but he eventually remembered the name as Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone.

While the notes played out poetically, Simon relaxed into his seat and wrapped his arm around Jeanette's shoulders. She sighed and reclined against him as much as the seats would allow for the rest of the song. It was a short but blessed moment in Simon's life that he would remember for quite some time to come. As they finished their tour of all 27 moons and the planet itself, he found himself getting slightly excited at the approach of his favorite planet, Neptune.

When Neptune was in sight, a faint bluish haze on the sky, the songs again shuffled. They began to play the unforgettable opening riffs to The Final Countdown. As the first few lines started, the view on the dome above closed in on the icy surface of the planet and took them down a ravine in the barren crust. Simon mouthed the lyrics as they went down into the vein of weakened crust and came up out of the other side and made their way back to the first three planets so fast that the stars seemed to melt away.

"_**We're leaving together  
but still it's farewell  
and maybe we'll come back,  
to earth, who can tell?**_

I guess there is no one to blame  
we're leaving ground (leaving ground)  
will things ever be the same again?  
It's the final countdown.

The final countdown.

Oh, We're heading for Venus (Venus)  
and still we stand tall  
cause maybe they've seen us  
and welcome us all, yeah  
with so many light years to go  
and things to be found (to be found)  
I'm sure that we'll all miss her so  
It's the final countdown."

The music continued and Jeanette's grip on Simon's shoulder continued to tighten as they continued to accelerate, finally slowing down as they passed Earth. They did a rather rushed tour of the Venus and Mercury as the music reached its crescendo before plunging straight at the surface of the sun. Though the image and light were artificial, Simon still had to squint to keep his eyes from being burned up from the sheer intensity of it all. Suddenly, the room grew dark once again and the lights came on as the song and subsequently the show ended.

Jeanette continued to stare at the dome for a few minutes before turning to Simon and grinning like a lunatic. Her only words were, "Wow"

"So I take it that you liked that?" Simon asked sarcastically.

"Yeah!" she replied excitedly, "That was the better than anything I've seen in the movies in forever."

"Yeah well, next time you want to come here for it, just let me know okay." He offered, satisfied that she had enjoyed it, "You ready to go see the real night sky now?"

"As long as you're there." She said silkily, leaning her head on his shoulder for a minute or two before getting up and dragging him behind her to get going.

They got to the car in record time thanks to Jeanette's eagerness. The strange thing was that she was very talkative all the way up until Simon turned the key in the ignition and she suddenly quieted down. Simon didn't think anything of it until about ten minutes had passed during their drive and they were almost to the field.

"What's bugging you?" he asked suddenly, abruptly shattering the silence that had fallen over her.

"Huh?" she responded, surprised at first, her face flushed red, "Oh, I was just thinking about something that Britney told me about her first date with Alvin."

"What was that?" Simon inquired, having heard nothing about his brother's relationship with Britney, he was genuinely interested.

"It was something she told me about what happened after the movie was over." Jeanette said, trying to build up to what she was actually trying to say, "She said that after the _**official**_ date was over, that they did stuff." Her face was now absolutely crimson.

"Well, what kind of stuff?" Simon asked, still not quite getting the clue.

"You know, like… personal stuff." She continued, still unable to fully articulate what she wanted.

"They talked about stuff in their personal lives?" he guessed, this time showing just how totally clueless he was.

"Sexual things Simon," Jeanette blurted out, causing him to tense up a little, "they did sexual things."

"Oh…" was his only response as he parked the car and got out to open Jeanette's door for her.

"I just made this whole thing awkward didn't I?" she asked ashamedly, stepping out of the car and grabbing the blanket that she had brought from the backseat.

"No, you didn't make it awkward." He reassured her, laughing a little bit at the hilarity of the whole situation.

"Simon?" she started, trying to get his attention.

"Yes?" he responded, looking back at her as he led the way down the path toward the open space a few dozen yards away from the parking lot.

"Can I just say something now," she began, starting again when she saw his head nod that he was listening, "I really like you a lot. More than any guy I've ever met. But I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me based on my sisters."

"I know you three are different from each other." he interrupted, "that's why I go out with you instead of Eleanor or Britney."

"What I mean is… I would do anything for you that you could want; I just don't want to have sex." She said, half expecting him to try and persuade her differently. She was therefore surprised when he smiled in agreement and started to speak reassuringly.

"I agree with you." He began, enjoying the expression of shock on her face before continuing, "I like you more than any person on the planet, but I don't think we're ready to do something like that yet. No matter what our siblings do; but I want to make something completely clear…"

"What's that Simon?"

"I want you to know that if there's anything that you want me to do short of actually having sex, don't hesitate to ask and I'll do anything I can to make sure you're happy."

"Okay Simon." she agreed, smiling because there _**was**_ something she wanted him to do for her that she had heard about from Britney. But she would wait and bring it up when they were out in the high grass of the field. She wanted the mood to be just right.

They got to the center of the field and laid out the blanket. When it was all set up, Simon took his jacket and rolled it up in a long tube so that they could have something soft to rest their heads on, and they lay out under the canopy of stars overhead. Simon was staring off into space when Jeanette decided that he was a better pillow than his jacket and she put her head gingerly on his chest. He didn't complain, rather, he enjoyed the fact that she felt so comfortable around him.

She suddenly spoke, "Simon, I can hear your heart beating."

"Oh? What does it sound like?" he asked.

"It sounds like it's speeding up a little bit." Jeanette answered, her hand moving from on top of her stomach to across his chest.

"Uh-huh…" he said as he took notice of Jeanette moving her hand across his chest, fingers splayed to feel every inch of him.

"Do you know what I want to do?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

"No, I thought that you wanted to go stargazing. Do you have something else in mind?" he answered.

"I was thinking something more along the lines of carnal delights." She answered, surprising him by going suddenly from on her back to kneeling on top of him, her legs on either side of his hips.

"Jeanette?" he asked, confused and a little taken aback by her sudden show of dominance.

"Shhhh, let's just enjoy this night okay?" she instructed, silencing him suddenly by crushing his lips with hers in a passionate kiss that stunned him completely except in one particular place that Jeanette felt clear as day.

"Ooh, looks like some parts of you are ready to have some fun." She said seductively, running her hands across his chest as she moved her kissing down his jaw line and finally onto his neck.

Simon just lay there stunned and amazed as the beautiful girl he loved ground her hips against his rock hard erection. He knew that they didn't have a lot of time out here, but he'd be damned if they didn't have some fun. He grabbed her around her waist and rolled until he was on top of her and he was kissing her while his hands roamed along her sides moving upwards.

Jeanette thought that she was in heaven, she had hoped that he would take the hint and take control, but he had definitely exceeded her expectations when he flipped them and dominated her absolutely. Now she got to lay there and relax as he overloaded her with sensation. His mouth was roaming up and down her neck as she began to moan slightly from pleasure. But the real fun was happening lower as his hands began to move up her sides and brushed her chest so softly that she yearned for more. Then his knee moved from her side to in between her legs. She was confused about what he was doing until he brought it up, moving her skirt with it, and began to grind against her aching arousal. She didn't think it could get any better until one of his hands stopped roaming her side and moved down until it was brushing the bare flesh of her upper thigh.

Simon had NO idea what he was doing, but judging from her reactions, he was doing something right. He finally decided to gather up his courage and moved his right hand, the one running up and down her side, down to the hem of her blouse and pulled it out slowly, waiting for her to object. The objection never came and he continued. Once he was able, he slipped one hand under the fabric around her torso and ran his fingers, nails down, across the soft skin of her stomach until he found what he was looking for. While this was all happening, his left hand had inched up her thigh slowly and was now brushing the edge of her panties that clung so tightly to her wonderful form.

"Ooh Simon!" she moaned, her nails sinking slightly into his back as she held him closer.

"Mmm-hm." He answered, his mind already preoccupied with what he had planned for her.

His hand crept around her back and flicked the small flap of hooks that restrained her. When he felt the slack in the material, he took both hands from what they were doing and pushed her shirt up until she noticed and raised her arms to help him. When her shirt was thrown away from them in a wad, Simon was hit by the realization that this was actually happening. He grinned maniacally as he helped her edge the bra off and started to gently massage her breasts. Jeanette threw her head back as a wave of new sensations hit her like a truck and she found that she completely loved them.

When he put his lips to her stiffened nipples, she felt like she was going to burst into flames from her arousal. This did not go unnoticed either, Simon saw what he was doing and took his right hand and led it slowly down her stomach and across the front of her skirt until it once again found the edge of the fabric. He went out of his way to brush her inner thigh lightly as he got closer to the heat of her arousal. She gasped when he found his target and smoothly ran his fingers over the outline her mound made underneath the thin lace and felt the moisture coming from her warm slit. Who knew Jeanette could be this sexy?

Jeanette was in heaven. She was laying there as her boyfriend took her on a cruise of pleasure. The least she could do was return the favor. While he was fumbling around with her breasts and feeling her up over her panties, she reached down and roughly gripped the bulge that had been growing since they started. She wasn't sure who was more surprised, her or him. She was amazed by the size of him, and he just looked stunned that she was actually groping him. He didn't stop though, so neither did she; while he peeled her underwear away from her groin, she reached for the buckle of his pants and flicked the small piece of brass. When that was out of the way, she unzipped the fly and reached in, amazed to feel just how hot he was. She could feel his pulse going through his cock and when she pulled it out, started to stroke it softly, slowly, afraid that she would hurt him if she did anything wrong.

Simon was so happy he didn't know what to do. While Jeanette was fumbling with his erection, he had been trying to take care of her as best he could. He had heard stories from Alvin and had seen videos online so he felt he knew what he was doing as he gently ran one finger up the moist slit and found the clitoris at the apex of the lips. He flicked it gently and noticed a shiver run through his girlfriend. He wondered for a second if she was okay, but decided that there was only one way to tell for sure, so he flicked the small nib of flesh again and was pleased to hear her groan in pleasure. After a few more seconds of playing with her, he gently pressed his middle finger to the folds of moistened flesh and was surprised at how easily he slid in. he pushed until his middle finger was buried in her up to the knuckle and was pleased to see that she had started to stroke him harder and faster than before as a response to the sensations she was feeling.

Oh my god! Jeanette thought to herself, she was in ecstasy, she could feel him entering her and it felt so good. There was a small twinge of pain at first, but that was because she had only ever used her own fingers and his were much larger. But the best part was when he reached up and scraped the top of the wall. His fingernail actually managed to find in an instant her G-Spot and there was nothing to compare the sensation to. He must have noticed her seize up around him, because he kept pumping his finger in and out, careful to scrape her clit and her G-Spot every time he penetrated her. If he didn't stop, she would cum.

Simon liked what he was able to do to her. In under a minute, he had not only found her clit, but also the one spot that seemed to elicit the biggest reaction out of her he had ever seen. His arm was beginning to get sore, but he didn't mind in the slightest. She had long since stopped pumping him, but that just made it easier for him to concentrate on pleasing her. He kept pumping for another minute and suddenly, she lurched forward and threw her arms around him, holding him close. As he felt her nails dig into his back again, he also felt the walls of muscle around his finger go rigid and start pumping against him. He started to pull out of her, but Jeanette stopped him by whispering, "Please, don't, it feels so good." When her orgasm had finally stopped, he looked down at her and saw her staring right back at him, a new emotion in her eyes than he had ever seen before. Was this what Desire looked like?

Jeanette pushed herself upright when Simon had rolled off of her to let her breathe. And she really needed it after what had just happened. That was the most intense orgasm she had ever felt in her life. Better even than what she normally did for herself. She looked over at him and saw him staring off into space, literally. She looked up and was amazed to see why, she saw a trail of light as a small meteor shower pass by…it was beautiful. When it had passed, she turned on her side to smile at Simon. He looked at her and smiled back, a small glow coming from him as he did. She wondered quickly just how much of a glow she had. Jeanette was ready to keep going, but Simon suddenly sat up and grabbed her bra and shirt. He tossed them to her and she caught them, a confused look on his face.

"Come on sweets," he said, using the pet name no one else knew about, "It's time to go before your mom kills me."

"What time is it?" she asked, looking at her cell phone as she did. Her jaw dropped when she saw that it was almost quarter after 11. It took at least ten minutes to drive to her house.

She hooked on her bra quickly and threw on her new shirt while Simon gathered up his jacket and rolled up the blanket, she realized with a blush that she had probably left a fresh spot of cum in the middle of it from their little adventure. When they were all collected, they ran for the car. Jeanette had never been so glad for the lights over the path in her life. They got to the car in just under a minute and were on the road in even less time, peeling off towards her house.

"I really liked tonight." She said, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah, I really liked tonight too." Simon answered, grinning at her out of the corner of his mouth.

"Can we do it again sometime?" Jeanette asked, longing just barely veiled in her voice.

"The show or the park?" Simon retorted.

"I was hoping we could go do something different next time, but I definitely want to end the night the same way." She told him, a childish joy in her words.

"Okay, we'll see how it plays out then. Who knows," he said slyly, "I could get some tips from Theo about places to have a little _**fun**_ somewhere new."

"I'd like that a lot," Jeanette said seriously, "But next time, I think _**you're**_ the one that's going to have the most fun."

"Now that's a promise I like!" he replied excitedly.

They pulled up to her house with five minutes to spare, but Miss Miller was still out on the porch, a baseball bat across her lap and a no nonsense look in her eyes that shone through the darkness and the distance. They walked up to the porch and she gave a grudging nod of approval before telling them that they had three minutes to say goodnight and then she'd be back outside to shoo Simon away. When the door was shut, Simon turned to Jeanette and started to say good bye.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"As long as we can have some fun alone," she answered silkily, "I'd love to."

"Okay then, I'll see what I can do then." Simon promised before leaning in to kiss her gently on the lips.

They stood there on the front porch for who knows how long before pulling away and going their separate ways, each one looking forward to the next day and the promise of pleasure to come.

_**WELL, I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THAT. SORRY IF IT WENT A LITTLE MORE MATURE THERE TOWARDS THE END, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY, "It's always the quiet ones." IN ANY CASE, I'M SORRY FOR THE LONG DELAY, BUT I HAVE BEEN HAVING COMPUTER PROBLEMS. I AM A LITTLE TIED UP FOR THE MOMENT SO I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN I WILL BE ABLE TO POST CHAPTER 18, BUT I WILL STRIVE FOR SATURDAY OR SUNDAY. R&R AND SEND ME A MESSAGE WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR IDEAS.**_

Happy Reading,

Musicalreader

PS- a shout out to BiggestChipetteFan. This one's for you! Stay cool!


	19. Chapter 18 A

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XIIX A

Previously, our heroes went out on their first real date. After seeing the light show, they went out to the field in the park and stargazed. Well, that and some other fun… anyway, after dropping Jeanette off at her house, Simon went home and crawled into bed dreaming of what they would do the next day together. Meanwhile, Jeanette was also dreaming of what tomorrow would hold for them; let's take a look at what happened the next day at Simon's house shall we?

Simon woke up at about ten in the morning, early for a Saturday. After rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom to do his morning routine. He nearly had a heart attack when he looked in the mirror and saw a stranger staring back. After a few deep breathes, he remembered that he now was sporting some white streaks in his hair. He passed a finger along one of them curiously and was amazed to find that it didn't feel any different from the rest of his hair. It looked strange, but it felt like it was just a natural part of his physical appearance. He briefly wondered how he would explain the new look to his family before deciding that he would worry about that when they asked.

When he climbed out of the shower, he went immediately to the mirror to check and see if the stripes were still there. They were and a grin spread across his face at the thought of having a token from his date with Jeanette that he could actually show people. "Maybe I should wear the clothes I bought last night?" he said out loud, "No, that'll wait until Monday."

"Talking to yourself?" Someone said from the doorway, startling him out of his thoughts.

Simon spun around to see who had just spoken and was pissed to see that it was his older, though much more immature brother, Alvin, standing there with a smug look on his face, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed as if he was respecting Simon's privacy.

"What are you doing up this early?" Simon commented, "I thought you slept in until noon on Saturdays?"

"Yeah, I usually do, but I decided to get up early and see how your date went last night." Alvin retorted, laughing as he cracked an eye open and scanned Simon's hair before continuing, "I wasn't expecting to find you with a bunch of stripes in your head. Dad's going to flip."

"I hope so, he's been saying for years that I need to get out and try new things right?" Simon mentioned, turning his attention from his brother to his reflection as he brushed his teeth.

"I don't think he meant for you to go out and get a dye job though." Alvin pointed out, "Though I do appreciate the company."

"What company? Did you and Brit have a fight last night?" Simon asked, a little bit concerned. He might get annoyed by Alvin on a daily basis, but he was still his brother and they both knew that the other was always there for them.

"Nah, nothing like that, it's just nice not to be the only troublemaker in the family now." Alvin said, quickly dodging a bar of hand soap that Simon had just sent flying at his head. He then took off down the hall laughing to himself.

"It's way too early for him to be unleashed on the rest of society…" Simon remarked to himself before going back to his morning routine and going to his room to get dressed.

When he had gotten dressed and eaten breakfast across from his surprised younger brother and dad, Simon pulled his shoes on and started walking over to the girl's house. When he finally got there, he knocked on the door and was greeted by Eleanor. She invited him inside and he sat down on the couch while he waited for Jeanette to finish getting dressed. She finally came down the stairs and smiled at him before inviting him into the kitchen for some food. Thought he wasn't actually hungry, he still was glad to be included.

"So what did your mom say when she saw you last night?" he asked, trying to make some conversation.

"She actually was excited to see me in something that wasn't purple." Jeanette commented, grinning at the funny memory.

"She took it that well?" he inquired, surprised that the conservative Miss Miller would be so relaxed about the Goth look.

"Well, the way she sees it, as long as I don't start dressing like that every day, she's alright with it." She clarified, "What do you want to do today?"

"I wasn't planning on anything today, why? Did you want to do something?"

"I wanted to actually go back to that store and see if I could get a couple more things, there's a bunch of clothes that are getting worn out and need to be replaced. Plus, I was hoping that I could model them for you." She answered, emphasizing the modeling part.

Simon smiled and said that he'd like that. Jeanette smiled back and rushed through her breakfast before scooping her keys off the counter and hurrying out to her truck, Simon in tow as they went off to the mall.

The rest of the day for Simon passed by in a flurry of clothes and new styles that just kept getting further and further away from Jeanette's normal look. Sunday passed much the same way, except for the fact that they also ended up making out in the changing room on Sunday. Simon really liked that part of the whole weekend shopping spree and felt that Monday came up on them way too soon. Nevertheless, he found himself getting up at five thirty like always with only memories of the time he had spent alone with Jeanette to get him out of bed.

For the first time in months, the boys rode into school together. Sure Alvin was squeezed into the back of Theo's van, but that just made it all the more fun. They coasted into the school parking lot with _**Turn Up the Radio**_ by Quiet Riot blaring from the tweaked speakers and chilled inside the van until it was over. When the song ended, they climbed out and walked up the steps and into the main hall of the school where they found the girls waiting for them impatiently.

"What took you so long to get here?" Britney interrogated, glaring at Alvin like he had just thrown off her whole day.

"Dave said for us to take the same car this morning, I can't help it if Simon's new hair style takes forever to get right." Alvin remarked, much to his brother's ire.

"Actually, we're late because after eleven years of school, _**someone **_still hasn't learned that their alarm going off means you get out of bed." Simon retorted, looking accusingly at Alvin.

"Well whose car did you take in?" Jeanette asked, trying to break up the small fight.

"Mine," Theo said, "And just so you know, I have to stay late today to get in some training for the county wide competition next week so you better find your own ways home."

"Yeah, I have to stay after today as well," Eleanor supplied, probably feeling left out of the conversation.

"So, can I get a ride home from you today Brit?" Alvin asked, suddenly humble.

"Actually Alvin, I have to do some things to help the fashion show along. What they'll do for fashion advice when I'm gone is beyond me." Britney said apologetically, shaking her head in frustration at the thought of the problems she would have to work out with the sewing class after school let out.

"Isn't today the day that Susan gets out of the hospital?" Simon asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Shit you're right." Eleanor swore, "I was going to help her get settled while mom's at work too."

"I don't have anything to do after school," Jeanette volunteered, "And I can give Alvin and Simon a lift to their house if they want."

"I'd like that." Alvin admitted.

"If it's all the same, I'd like to help her get settled, there was supposed to be two of you working on her room anyway right?" Simon said.

"I don't see how that could be a problem." Eleanor admitted, growing fond of the idea, "So Jeanette will drop Alvin off at the boy's house, then her and Simon will go over to our house to get Susan's room ready."

"Sounds good to me." Simon said agreeably.

"Just remember you two, no fooling around, Miss Miller said that she'd be at the house no later than six and we don't need anyone getting sidetracked." Britney warned, as if she was any model for behavior.

"What makes you think that we've done anything yet?" Jeanette asked, flustered.

"The hickeys on your necks say what you were doing while you were out at the mall yesterday." Theo volunteered.

Both Simon and Jeanette instantly put their hand to the sides of their necks and looked at each other with horror on their faces.

"Relax you two, it's not like Dave or Miss Miller saw anything. You just have to learn the right places to do that kind of thing." Eleanor said, trying to be comforting.

"Okay, I don't know about the rest of you, but I really don't want to hear the rest of _**this**_ particular conversation." Alvin said suddenly, pushing off of his locker to stand up and starting off down the hallway, Britney close on his heels.

"Ellie, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but please stop right there before I get insanely embarrassed." Jeanette interrupted when it looked like her sister was going to continue.

"Yeah, I don't exactly feel comfortable talking about this with you guys." Simon admitted red faced.

"Fine, just remember, whatever you do, make sure that no one's around or you will both get in so much trouble it isn't funny. And never on school grounds unless you have a door with a lock on it on the inside." Eleanor said quickly before Theo dragged her off down the hall and out of sight.

After a few seconds on tense silence, Simon said bluntly, "Well that was bizarre."

"Yeah, yeah it was." Jeanette agreed as they both gathered up their stuff from their lockers.

"You have English today right?" Simon asked.

"Yep, and you have gym with Bill next." She replied, shuddering slightly as she said the name.

"Don't remind me, he's been trying to start shit in the locker room every class recently." Simon said as his blood boiled just thinking about the creep he could pummel so easily.

"Well, try and play nice." She instructed him playfully, sounding for a second or two like her little sister.

He laughed tensely and promised that he'd try. They kissed quickly and parted ways to head off to their separate classes.

Simon knew he had promised to not get in Bill's way and risk fighting, but he was really struggling with that. While coach was busy helping out one of the football players from the JV team, Bill had found himself a nice quiet corner to terrorize the new kids. He would wait until they were starting to weaken, and when the bar was touching their chest, he and his little toadies would slap a 45 on each end. Simon had to help save at least three of the freshmen from being crushed. And each time, Bill would laugh and tell him to let them suffer, it would make them suffer. The little creep was asking for it so bad…

He must have seen the fury in Simon's eyes, because after he helped yet another kid up, Bill got in his face and asked him if he had a problem.

"Yeah I have a problem, you." Simon answered defiantly before turning around and trying to walk away before he did something he'd regret.

A three pound disk flew by his ear and he spun around to see Bill starting to heft another. He was seriously trying to hurt him.

The kids Simon had helped were running over to the other side of the room to get the coach, but he wouldn't do much good from that far off, Simon was on his own for the moment.

He ducked another disk as Bill threw it. It hit the wall with a sickening thud and left a dent in the cinderblock wall. Simon didn't want to think what would happen to him if he got hit by one. He had no choice but to fight back, at least for now. He stepped forward, his long legs propelling him faster than most other humans, and in the span of two seconds, he was within reach of Bill, right where he wanted to be.

The tormentor was taken off guard and tried to club him in the back with a dumbbell he picked up, but Simon caught his forearm and twisted until he not only dropped the weight, but his whole body twisted and he was shoved against one of the pillars in the room. Simon pressed his knee to the small of his back and pressed until he felt Bill stop trying to kick him. He wouldn't do anything to permanently damage him, but he would get the message across the only way he would understand…pain.

Simon looped his free arm around Bill's windpipe and pulled back until he had him locked in a headlock. He must have been stupider than Simon thought; he was struggling and in the process cutting his own air supply off. He had to hold his head steady before he killed himself. When that didn't work, he decided to flex his bicep and cut off the blood flow to his brain. That would at least make him pass out and stop struggling. It took a few seconds, but eventually, he felt Bill's body go slack from the loss of blood and he passed out. Simon took his arms away from his neck and rolled him over on his back so that he could recover. Maybe when he woke up, he'd have figured out not to mess with Simon or anyone for that matter…

Just as the small fight ended, coach walked over and passed an appraising look at Simon and Bill, "Did he fall asleep?" he asked, not seeming to really care.

"Yep coach, he was working too hard." Simon supplied before Bill's little cronies could say otherwise.

The coach seemed to buy the excuse and walked over to the light switch, "ALRIGHT! RACK EM UP FELLAS!" he called, signaling that class was over.

Bill twitched and Simon turned to a little mousey looking guy and told him that when he woke up, have him sit up slowly or else he'd pass out again. Then he turned around, gathered his stuff, and left to head off to his next class…

By the time lunch rolled around, news of what had happened had circulated throughout the entire school, and when he saw Jeanette in the courtyard, she looked angry and worried all at the same time.

"What the HELL were you thinking!" she said excitedly, "You could have gotten suspended or worse for that. You just couldn't walk away?"

"Babe, Jeannie, please listen to me…" Simon said, trying to get her to calm down and give him a chance, "The guy was trying to crush the little guys under the bar, and then he started to throw weights at me while my back was turned. He would have seriously hurt someone if I didn't step in."

"He really did that?" she asked, wanting to believe him so bad.

"Yes, he was going to hurt someone whether I was there or not, trust me, I did everyone a favor today, and maybe he'll cool it now that he got his ass handed to him." he said, trying to comfort her and make her see the bright side.

"Well, if you say so, hey, I need to go get something from my truck, wait here okay?" she asked, worry still hidden in her gaze.

"I won't move babe, just hurry back okay?"

"Okay."

When she was out of sight, Simon was startled to hear a voice from right behind him.

"Awwww now isn't that sweet…" Bill commented greasily.

"What the hell are you doing here? Come to get your ass kicked again?" Simon asked, trying to hide his surprise.

"Relax princess, I don't want to start shit here, the principals right there, I have an offer to make you actually…" he said

"What kind of offer?" Simon asked suspiciously.

"A simple bet, after school in the park across the street, you win, I leave the school, I win, I get to choose my prize."

"What the hell kind of prize do you have in mind?" Simon asked, his sole focus on the idea of Bill finally leaving the school.

"I get a go at your girlfriend." He said aggressively.

"No deal, Jeanette isn't some kind of prize, and she isn't an object to be taken. But how about this, I lose, you get to hurt me as bad as you want and I don't lift a finger to defend myself?"

"Hmmm, I was planning on taking your girl Seville, but kicking your ass is just as good." Bill agreed, smiling evilly as he said it.

"So what's the bet?" Simon asked

"You and me, during last period, in the park across the street, we're gonna fight. No rules, and no crying when I mop the grass with your face." He said threateningly.

"Okay, just remember, I've kicked your ass unconscious. If you get hurt, don't come whining to me." Simon agreed, shooting bullets at him with his eyes.

"Cool, you may have some balls yet Seville." He commented as he slinked off toward the exit.

Simon turned around to see Jeanette standing not ten feet away, having heard who knows how much. "Oh shit, Jeanette it's not what you think." He tried to say before she turned around and ran into the art building, tears streaming from her face.

_**Oh Simon, what have you done? Will he be okay? What will Jeanette do? And who will win the fight. Tune in next week for the concluding section of GtKY Ch. XIIX.**_

_**I hope you enjoyed. You know the drill, R&R and I am always open to Beta requests. Tell me what you want to see happen in the Review page. Who knows, one of you may just be right…**_

_**In any case, I am sorry for the inconsistent update schedule. I have had Finals and am getting in gear for summer. There will be about four to six more chapters in the Simonette storyarc, so try not to miss any. If you liked this story, please let your friends know about it. And BE SPECIFIC about comments, I can't improve if everyone just says "great job" now take care and of course…**_

_**Happy Reading!**_

musicalreader


	20. Chapter 18 B

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XIIX B

Bill couldn't have planned it any better than it had turned out… he had been trying for weeks to get Jeanette, and now, because he had started a fight with Simon, she had run away from him in tears. This day was going great! That and the fact that he had a little "surprise" for Simon waiting at the park…

Simon was pissed… he had just agreed to a really dangerous bet, which was completely out of character for him, then fate decides to compound his troubles. He looked over his shoulder and saw Alvin and Britney hurrying over to him. Alvin had a look of genuine concern, and Britney looked about ready to kill him…

"What did you do?" she yelled at him.

"Nothing to her…at least, not on purpose…" he said indignantly, what business was it of hers?

"Whoa, you guys, just calm down okay?" Alvin said, trying to get in between them.

"Did you say something to her?" Brit continued, ignoring her boyfriend completely.

"No," Simon said, defending himself angrily, "I accepted a bet and she just freaked out. I WAS going to chase after her and explain things to her, but you stopped me just now and I have no clue where the hell she went now."

"Well why did you stop?"

"BECAUSE YOU RAN OVER HERE ACCUSING ME OF SHIT!" he roared at her, his usual calm demeanor cracking and falling completely apart.

"HEY!" Alvin finally interrupted, shutting them both up, "Brit, I know you're protective, but for everyone's sake, please let Simon and Jeanette sort this out their way alright?"

"Fine, but she better be alright Simon." she sulked.

Simon and Alvin shared a quiet nod of understanding and he took off, leaving Alvin and Britney alone in the middle of the courtyard with everyone staring at them like they were ground zero for an explosion.

Simon ran into the art department and walked until he found the empty classroom at the end of the hall, this had been his and Jeanette's personal sanctuary when they were freshmen and wanted a place to just think. It worked especially well when the library was being used for classes. He cracked the door and saw her sitting on the teacher's desk staring at the collage they had made of every great writer, scientist, artist, and philosopher. He remembered picking out the pieces and putting them up there with her late in the afternoons last year. She had always giggled when he had gotten trapped in glue and paper. And he had laughed when she slipped on the floor scraps. He was drawn back to reality by a soft, barely audible sound coming from her hunched over form. He heard a soft sob and it was as if a rusty knife pierced his soul.

"Jeanette?" he called quietly, walking into the room and shutting the door behind him so they would have privacy.

"What do you want?" she asked through her tears, "Run out of people to fight?"

The remark stung him deeply, "Come on now, you only heard the last part of the conversation and besides, when have you known me to be unnecessarily violent?" he said in his defense.

When she didn't respond, he continued, "I mean, the only reason I'm even going to fight him is so that he'll leave everyone alone, you didn't hear him when he walked over Jeanette, he wants you and I am trying to protect you."

"How is fighting going to solve anything?" she asked, looking over her shoulder and glaring at him.

In her face, Simon saw anger, fear, and distrust. But her eyes showed concern and worry. She was truly a gentle soul, the kind that wouldn't fight back if they were attacked to stay the higher ground. He didn't deserve her, but he needed her, even if he didn't always appreciate it.

"I can't justify what I did except by saying this, if I win, I'll have made this school and this town a little bit safer. If I lose, I'll have shown everybody that you can stand up to anything if it is wrong." He said, turning to leave.

As he opened the door, he heard the squeak of the desk legs against the tiles and felt her soft touch on his shoulder. He turned back around to face her. "Just promise me one thing Simon…" she said, looking up into his ice blue eyes.

"Anything Jeanette, I'll promise you anything but that I won't fight. I have to do this."

"I believe you, but I want you to swear right here and now that if you can't win, you will run. I don't want you to lose, but I also don't want you to get hurt or die either." She begged

"Babe, I will win, the fight's after the final bell, I'll go over there, kick his smug ass, and I'll be safe…" he tried to reassure her

"I know you'll win, but if he cheats, I don't want you in the hospital…if you're gone, who would I go to if he tried anything? He's had his eye on me like I'm a piece of meat ever since he knew we were together."

"I won't ever let him hurt you, I swear…" he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply.

It took her by surprise, but Jeanette eventually melted into the soft, caring kiss. She may not say it out loud, but she really did love this boy. He was everything she wanted, and everything she had was his. The bell rung as they kissed, and they were startled apart. As they walked out, Jeanette thought up an idea, "Hey Simon!" she called as she chased after him down the hall.

"What is it Jeanette?" he asked, turning to face her.

"You said the fights after the final bell right?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, right over in the park, why?"

"No reason, just wanted to know how long you were going to take before going over there is all."

"You hate fighting," he commented, suspicion growing inside him about her true motives…

"I know, but I want to see Bill get what's coming to him, he messes with everyone and I want to see him get messed with." She continued, trying to keep up the mask of a lie.

"Well, okay then, just stay out of the way alright? I don't know what I'd do if he got you." Simon warned, sensing that there was something else afoot.

"I will. I'll see you later!" she called as she ran towards her second to last class of the day…

Okay, confession time…Jeanette had no intention of staying out of the way, she was going to try and stop the fight before it began. She just had to get up the courage to follow through on her crude plan. In essence, she was going to skip a class for the first time ever. Luckily, it was a study hall, so they didn't really care, the hard part would be finding the spot. But she would worry about all that stuff later. Right, now, she was trying to look natural as she walked off campus during the five minutes between second to last and last periods…

Luckily, the campus security didn't seem too motivated today, so she made it across the street without problem and walked into the park. She found a huge small clearing and saw a person leaning up against a tree. As she got closer, she recognized the form as … Bill! Maybe this would be easier than she thought.

She walked over to him and saw a look of pleasant surprise on his face. "Well well, if it isn't the librarian…" he commented, sneering at his unfunny joke.

"Hey Bill, listen I came out here to talk to you about something…" she started before he busted out laughing.

"Let me guess, you want me not to fight that little bitch ass you call a boyfriend." He said, and when she didn't answer out of shock, he continued, "You think that after he humiliates me in class, and makes a bet with me that lets me kick his ass, I'm going to back down?"

"I was hoping that you would see reason and stop this silly rivalry now before it got too serious." Jeanette tried to explain, jumping a little as Bill pushed off the tree he was leaning against.

"Ooooh, a little jumpy are we?" Bill taunted

No, you startled me is all…" Jeanette answered, staring at the ground as he advanced closer.

"You know, I was meaning to find you earlier, I wanted you to know how much I like the new look." he said sickeningly sweet, the words sent chills up her spine and she backed up another step, "I like it when girls dress like what they are."

"What do you think I'm dressed as?" Jeanette asked, curious despite her instincts telling her to run.

"A slut," Bill said, running at Jeanette and throwing her to the ground. "Now you listen here sweetheart, I'm going to have a little fun with you before your boyfriend shows up. And when he does show up, you're going to tell him exactly what I did to you. Then I'm going to beat him so bad that they need to take him away in a hearse, then if you're lucky…I'll fuck you again."

"No!" Jeanette screamed, terror in her heart as Bill viciously made a grab for her shirt, she kicked up with her knee and caught him square in the groin. As he doubled over in pain, she rolled him off of her and started to slip into a running position, but she was too slow.

He grabbed her ankle as she ran and dragged her back down, when her back hit the grass, he crawled up her and pinned her legs to the ground as one of his hands held her arms over her head. He took out a folding knife and opened it to cut up the front of her shirt. she tried to scream again, but she was afraid of what else he would do if she did. A tear slid down her cheek as she silently called out for help.

"Awwww, don't cry little whore, I won't kill you, and who knows, you might enjoy yourself…now let's see what we have to work with shall we?" he taunted as he slid his hand up her stomach and brushed over her bra.

She cringed visibly as his hand closed over her breast and began to grab her roughly. Pain shot up her side as he did so. he brought the blade up again and ran the flat of it's cold steel against the skin of her stomach and chest. He then deftly flicked his wrist and her bra was cut in half from the front. Her silent plea had changed to thoughts of vengeance, she needed Simon there. He would give him justice. She called out to him as loud as she could in her heart. She looked away from her attacker, as if not seeing what was happening would make it less real. She thought she saw someone in the trees, but it couldn't be… could it?

Bill was having the time of his life. He had the most sensual girl he had ever seen laying beneath him, terror in her eyes, and he was in control, there wasn't a thing in the world that could fuck this up for him. he pushed aside a part of the cut rag that had once served as her bra, and he was now staring at her magnificently full breasts. He reached out a hand eagerly and grabbed hold roughly. The bitch let out a cry of pain, but he knew she liked it rough, he started to massage her and she cringed, as she did, he got harder by the second. This was nirvana for him, in control and sharing the pain of life with another. He made a grab for her stiffened nipple when his world exploded in pain. He tumbled off of Jeanette and landed face up in the grass. He got one look at the thing that hit him before his whole being descended into blackness…

Simon had had a weird feeling all last period. He tried to chalk it up to nerves, but this was different, it was like there was a tingling in his spine that he couldn't shake. He was also bothered by what Jeanette had asked in the hall after lunch. For someone who hated violence, she had been very keen to learn about the fight. There was something wrong here. He raised his hand and said he was feeling sick. The teacher told him to go to the attendance office. He gathered up his things and made a beeline down the hall, out the doors, and across the street to the park.

He walked for about three minutes before he saw a small clearing and a couple lying there getting very involved, he was about to move on and give them their privacy when the girl tried to get up and run away and the guy pulled her back. This was no couple. The girl was being raped. He had to stop it, but as he was about to jump out of the trees and surprise the attacker, he saw a flash of light and realized that the rapist had a weapon. He would have to be careful and quick if he was going to do any good.

He looped around the ring of trees around the clearing until he was at the attacker's blind side, he tried to figure out what to do next when the girl looked to her side and saw him there. He noticed her eyes and was stunned that he recognized her… Jeanette was the one being raped! His thought process shut down and he surged forward in a tidal wave of fury that crested as he reached the rapist and slammed his foot into the side of his skull. The man rolled onto the ground and started to shake off the impact and get up. Like hell was he going to let that happen… Simon knelt down and brought his fist back only to push with all his strength right into the center of the rapists face. He was satisfied that he both felt and heard a crack as he broke the rapists nose, and hopefully some facial bones. Either way, he wouldn't be getting up until the cops were called in. he turned to Jeanette and saw that she was sitting up, holding her shirt together, and crying as she watched him pummel the guy into submission.

"Are you okay?" he asked, feeling stupid that he asked it.

Surprisingly, she laughed a little and replied, "Yeah, now that you're here, I'll be fine."

He leaned forward and held her close in the grass, trying to comfort her and reassure himself that she was fine. He stood up and helped her up. When she was also standing, he took off his jacket and threw it over her smaller frame. She zipped it up and silently thanked him. she then turned to him and asked him a question.

"Do you realize who you just knocked out?"

"Uhhh," he replied as he looked behind him at the crumpled form in the grass, his jaw dropped and he almost went back to beating him up when he saw that it was Bill who had attacked her.

"Why were you out here alone?" he asked angrily, more at himself than her, "You knew that this douche-bag was trouble, why would you put yourself at risk?"

"I wanted to convince him not to fight you…" she said as the tears built back up in her eyes.

"Shhhh, shhhh, it's okay, it's alright." He comforted her, running his hands up her back, trying to make her feel safe. "We'll go back up the school and then we'll figure out what to do about him okay? But first things first is to take care of you got it?"

She sniffled and said okay as he led her away from the limp form of Bill and back up towards the school. They walked as far as the parking lot before the shock wore off of her and Jeanette started to weep uncontrollably into Simon's shoulder. He picked her up and walked her over to her truck where he put the bed down and sat down while he cradled her close to his heart. He wouldn't say it to her, but he was more scared at that moment than he had ever been in his whole life. In the distance, he heard the final bell ring for the day and the rush of people leaving their classes, but it felt surreal as he held Jeanette while she cried. She was so kind, so pure; she didn't deserve any of this. And the icy hand of guilt gripped his heart as he realized that he had caused it all. The two of them sat there and he watched as their siblings saw them and came rushing over. What would they say? What would they do?

**There you have it, the end of Ch. 18. What did you think? Not what you were expecting? Well let me know in the review page. Tell me what you want to see happen. And don't forget to subscribe so you can stay filled in on all the excitement of GtKY. Ch. 19 and 20 are relatively slow by themselves, so I will try my best to release both of them in about a week. Look for them and remember, I am always open for Beta's and conversations. Just send me a PM and remember,**

**Happy Reading**

**musicalreader**


	21. Chapter 19

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XIX

Alvin was waiting for the final bell anxiously. He knew that Simon could beat the shit out of Bill, he was just worried that Bill wouldn't fight fair. When the notes filled the hall signaling the end of the day, it was all he could do to walk relatively calmly out the door and down the hall. While he was heading over, he saw Britney walking just as hurriedly towards the exit. They started walking side by side, and were soon joined by Theodore and Eleanor. They kept walking and were almost to the exit when a thought occurred to Alvin… where was Jeanette?

"Brit," he started excitedly, worry in his voice, "Do you know where Jeanette is?"

"No, last I saw her was at lunch when she stormed off… you don't think she'd go see the fight alone do you?"

"I sure as hell hope not…" Alvin replied, picking up the pace and leading the group as they busted out the main doors leading out to the parking lot.

They all scanned the parking lot until Eleanor gasped and started to run over to Jeanette's truck…with Simon and Jeanette in the trunk.

By the time they had reached the truck, they all knew that something was gravely wrong. Jeanette was crying into Simon's shoulder and he was rocking her back and forth trying to calm her down. After a while of standing there in stunned silence, Theo finally pierced the tense veil of unease by asking Simon what had happened…

"All I know is this…" he began, cradling Jeanette's head against him as he whispered the rest, "I left last period early and went into the park to try and get the drop on Bill. When I get there, I see him on top of Jeannie and he's… hurting her… I don't even know what happened after that, but I think I knocked him out and then I helped her over here where she started to breakdown…"

As he relayed what he knew to the others, they all noticed her sobs becoming less pronounced and she was gradually lifting her head off of his shoulder and glanced around at her siblings and close friends with sadness in her eyes the likes of which they had never seen before.

She hugged Simon tightly and put her head back on his shoulder as she sighed one last time. Then, she lifted her head up with a fierce look of determination and stood up.

"He's not going to get away with this…" she said through gritted teeth, "I'm going to make damn sure that fucker is put away where he can't even touch another living being and he won't be able to hurt anyone."

Simon and the others looked at her in shock as she turned on her heels and ran inside the building as fast as her long legs could carry her. By the time everyone snapped to their senses and realized that they should probably follow her, not even Ellie and Theo could keep up. They ran inside the main entrance and caught her shadow bolting into the principal's office. They ran after her, but when they got to the receptionist's desk, they were told that she had been given instructions to only admit Simon.

"What do you mean?" Britney snapped furiously, "We're her fucking sisters! We want to know what the hell happened!"

"I'm aware of that, but the principal specifically told me to only admit those who were witness to the incident. I don't even know what she's doing in there with your sister." The receptionist explained.

"It's going to be fine Britney," Eleanor comforted, hugging her closely, "Simon, get in there now."

Simon nodded as he opened the door and the group caught a glimpse of Jeanette's tear streaked face before it slammed back into place.

"You can have a seat if you like…" the receptionist offered, pointing out the chairs usually set aside for rule breakers.

The kids took the seats wordlessly, but they all had the same question on their minds… just what the hell had happened?

_Sorry for the brief chapter, but I had it planned out earlier and didn't want to screw up the outline. This was a filler piece mostly, used for transition. You know what happened in the park, but this was to show the confusion on the part of the siblings… I hope you enjoyed the group view, please R&R this chapter. I really need some constructive criticism that I can work with and improve on. Thank you, and this chapter goes out to Starbin21, for her creative assistance and prompt readings of my chapters, and also to Simon wanna be, for his constant help in fixing writers block. Thank you both. If you would like a dedication, please leave a review or PM me._

_Happy Reading,_

_musicalreader _


	22. Chapter 20

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XX

Simon walked into the principal's office knowing full well what was going to happen. He was glad that Jeanette had had the presence of mind to go here. He was still a little blind with rage over what Bill had done. There was no way he could know what it must feel like to be Jeanette, sitting in the cold office, barely covered by his jacket. She was even still trembling from the shock of the assault, but a fierce light in her eyes nonetheless.

"Please sit down Mister Seville." The principal ordered.

When he was seated, she continued, her lips pursed and her voice quiet like it always got when she was furious, "Now, all I heard from Jeanette here, was that she was attacked in the park and she wanted you here to help tell the story."

"Ma'am, I am begging you, get officer Sanderson to the park right now. You'll find a guy there, Bill Jackman; he's the guy that attacked Jeanette. Get him rounded up before he can run off and I'll tell you what happened." Simon pleaded earnestly.

The principal must have seen the sincerity in his expression, because as soon as he stopped talking, she reached down, picked up her walkie talkie, and called the schools police officer to round up Bill. When she put the walkie talkie down, Simon breathed a sigh of relief and Jeanette visibly relaxed. The principal looked at him expectantly, and Simon took a deep breath and told her what he knew of the attack. Her jaw dropped when he told her how he had kicked him off of Jeanette and how he had found her.

When he was done, she thanked him and asked him to leave the room while she talked to Jeanette in private. He looked at her and saw her nod her head in agreement. He lowered his head in submission and stood up to leave the room. As he reached the door, Jeanette shot out of her chair and called for him to stop. He froze and she walked over to him unsteadily. He was about to ask why she had called for him when she leaned in and hugged him close. He hadn't realized it, but he had needed reassurance that she was truly alright. After holding each other for a few more minutes, she let him go and whispered that she would be okay. He walked out of the room satisfied that she could handle herself for the moment and sat with his siblings and the girls.

When the door had shut, the principals voice softened and she took on the air of a concerned mother, "Jeanette," she called gently, "Are you ready to tell me what happened to you?"

Jeanette breathed deeply once, twice, her shoulders shrugged, and she tried to put on a brave smile as she sat down and told the principal everything that had happened from lunch time on. The entire time she was talking, the principal sat there on the desk, her brow furrowed in hard concentration. And when Jeanette reached the part about Bill pulling her back to the ground, her eyes teared up slightly and her voice cracked. The principal tried to calm her down and keep her going, but they were interrupted by the walkie talkie crackling to life and officer Sander's voice telling the principal that Bill was found in the park as described and he had a knife on him that was now confiscated. He was bringing him back to the office as he called it in.

Jeanette breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down when she heard that. She rushed through the actual attack and refused to talk about how Simon had protected her. Partly out of awe that he had come when she had needed him, partly because she had been crying at the time and hadn't seen much of what happened. When it was clear that she wouldn't talk anymore, the principal thanked her and walked her to the door talking about how brave she had been to come forward with this so soon. Jeanette walked out into the reception area greeted by the hugs of her sisters and the attention of all three of the boys.

As they crowded her and tried to get her home quickly, the door opened and there stood Officer Sander's holding Bill by the scruff of his shirt. When they saw his sick, twisted smile, it was all that the poor cop could do to keep them from attacking Bill. The principal even got involved and held back Theo and Alvin. When they had calmed down a little, Bill sneered and walked into the office, his shoulders slouching and a defeated shuffle in his step.

Sander's wanted to come into the room with him, but the principal refused, she said that she wanted to have a private word with him before Officer Sander took him to the police station for battery and assault at the least. When the door shut, he turned to the kids and told them that with the knife he had had on him, he would be expelled bare minimum and wouldn't be bothering anyone for a while. The boys and Eleanor and Jeanette thanked him while Britney stood in the corner muttering things she would do to him if she ever saw Bill again.

Sanders took Jeanette aside for a private word, "Listen Jeanette, I don't know _**exactly**_ what happened, but I can gather that that punk in there tried to hurt you. So what I need you to do, if you want him to possibly be put in jail, is to come down to the police station as soon as you can, and file a report okay?"

"Thank you sir, I'll do that soon." She promised, trying her best to smile at him and turning to leave with her sisters.

When they got to the parking lot, Jeanette started to get in the driver's side, but Simon stopped her, "You're in no shape to drive." He said.

She nodded her head in agreement and slid over while he hopped in and took the wheel. They drove to her house in silence while Jeanette stared out the window at the sky. When they pulled up her driveway, she looked at him like it was the first time she had ever seen him before. She smiled, and she climbed out without a word, took the keys from his outstretched hand, and walked inside the front door wordlessly.

Eleanor came up behind him and touched his shoulder gently, "You're scared of something?" she guessed

"I'm scared of what happens now." He admitted ashamedly.

"Don't be. A lot happened this afternoon. She'll be herself soon enough." Ellie comforted him.

"What if she wants to break up because of this?" he asked, looking down at the shortest sister.

"Why would you ask that?" she replied, shocked at the very notion of it all.

"Because, she got involved because I was getting involved with something she told me to stay out of. And I wasn't there quick enough. She was hurt because of me!" he said angrily, his fists clenching as he fought with himself emotionally. His feelings running any of a million different directions, all of them hateful, all of them directed at himself and Bill.

"Stop saying that. Listen…" she chided softly, trying to calm him down, "She went through a lot today, none of which was your fault. The only person to blame was Bill. And he'll get his if it's the last thing any of us do." She promised

Simon started to turn and walk to his house, but Eleanor called out one last thing, "Listen," she said, "Give her time to recover and she'll be back to her old self ok?"

He nodded silently and started to walk to his house, taking the long way to think and clear his head…

Jeanette watched from the window as Simon was being talked to by her sister. She hoped he didn't blame himself. She certainly didn't. She just needed to think quietly for a little bit. Hopefully, she hadn't been too brusque when she had come inside, but she really just couldn't be around people for now. She flopped onto her mattress and buried her face in the pillow as the tears that had not been shed started to flow… she cried so hard that she fell asleep in a haze of tears and emotions that had no name…

_Well, there you have it. The last of the bridge section; hope you enjoyed reading it as I did writing it. The next chapter will pick up roughly two days after the police report is filed. Also, to answer any confusion about Susan, when Ch. XXI picks up, she will be living with the Chipettes and yes, she will know about what happened. You'll have to see what happens next chapter if you want any more answers… anyways, you know the drill. R&R please so I can improve any flaws or answer any character questions, PM me if you have a personal question or want to request something. And last but not least, a shout out to the anonymous reviewers! Little tip guys, can't answer a question if you don't have an account. Sign up please and join in the fun. We all look forward to new writers and readers._

_Happy Reading_

_Musicalreader _


	23. Chapter 21

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XXI

Simon was waiting by the phone anxiously on Tuesday. It had been three days since Jeanette had filed the police report and he hadn't even heard from her. The principal had said it was okay if he took some time off and Jeanette as well, but he was scared that she would never be the same again. He himself was neglecting his sleep and his health. He hadn't eaten since Dave made him finish a bowl of soup for lunch on Monday, and he had spent every waking moment waiting for a call that seemed to never come. He had tried to get in touch with the Miller's on Saturday, but Britney had said that they were going to the police station and that Jeanette would call him when she was ready…. But would she ever be ready?

Eleanor was beginning to worry about Jeanette's well being. Sure the attack had been awful, but afterwards, she had practically shut down. She wouldn't laugh, cry, and voluntarily eat sleep or drink. It was like living with a zombie… now that she thought about it; Jeanette was only less than the living dead when Susan started talking to her. Maybe it was just something that all victims went through; maybe it was just easier to open up to someone who had been through the same thing before. All she knew was that Miss Miller and Britney were just as worried.

While she was pondering her sister's condition, Britney walked into the kitchen, her brow furrowed in a rare moment of reflection…

"What are you thinking about now Brit?" she asked, breaking her out of whatever universe she had been in.

"I was just wondering," She answered, sitting down at the table across form Ellie, "What are Jeanette and Susan talking about in her room? I just walked past the door and Jeanette's sniffling and Susan runs over and shuts the door before I can say hi…"

"Maybe it was just them talking about what happened." Ellie guessed, "I mean, Susan was really happy to come live here for a while until she heard about what had happened to Jeannie, then she got all serious and started spending almost every minute with her."

"I think that's because she knows what it's like to be there…" Britney guessed, shaking her head in surrender, "All I care about is how soon she gets back to her old self. I miss my sister you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Ellie answered sadly, reaching across the table to hold Britney's hand.

"Are you still having those nightmares Jeanette?" Susan asked from her spot on the mattress across from Jeanette.

"Yeah, it's still the same too…" she answered mechanically, "What was it like for you?" she asked for the umpteenth time.

"I can only remember feeling alone and sad. My family wasn't there for me, my friends left me… you're relatively lucky actually. You have a family that cares for you. You have friends that are there for you. And you have a boyfriend who stopped it before you were really hurt. I wish I had had a guy like Simon to save me."

"Yeah, that's the other thing…" Jeanette started to say before pursing her lips like it was a secret.

"What?" Susan asked, catching the action, "Don't hold back Jeanette… what were you going to say?"

"It's just that, in my dreams, it's always the same. I'm in the park, I can't run, and then I get knocked down and it happens again, except that in the dream, it doesn't stop. Simon's not there to save me. It happens and I go numb, and then I wake up."

"That's your head trying to tell you that you escaped a lot worse. What happened this time? You sound like something new happened?"

"Well, last night, it started out the same, but instead of being knocked down, I felt this warm glow at the edge of my vision. I tried to look, but I was still stuck. Then this glow, it just shows up behind me and holds my hands and it helps me to get unstuck. I was able to walk out of the clearing this time."

That's great!" Susan exclaimed, "You're starting to get past the trauma. You're feeling again, you got out of the loop. You got out in days when it took me weeks. This is incredible!"

Jeanette looked at Susan's smiling face and just sighed, "But what if I get hurt again?" she asked, "I was lucky that Simon showed up last time. I don't feel right going back to him like this because I'm still hurting and I don't want to drag him down."

"I think you're hurting him by _**NOT**_ going to him Jeannie…" Susan replied softly, "I heard Britney and Ellie in the kitchen today talking about how Simon's been in a daze the last few days. And from what Alvin and Theo say, he just spends all his time looking at the phone expecting you to call."

"That's ridiculous." She scoffed, "Simon was the one who helped me, why would he be depressed because of that?"

"Because he loves you Jeanette…" Eleanor piped in from the doorway, taking both the girls by surprise. "He loves you and you're hurting him by dwelling on the past. Sure, you were hurt, and we are all here for you. But you do nobody any good by shutting us all out. You know me and Britney are here, but if we try and talk about it with you, you shut down and come in here to cry."

"She's right Jeanette." Susan agreed, "I want to help you as much as I can, but I think your family can do more for you than I can…"

"But you know what it's like. You can tell me why I feel the things I do." Jeanette tried to explain before turning to Ellie, "Eleanor, you know I love you and Britney, but I feel tainted by what happened. I don't want to hurt anyone and I'm scared that I will if they get too close…"

"Well, we can understand that. I was in shock for a week after that incident on the tour last summer, but you should know…" she said, turning around in the doorway and heading down the hall to her own room, "You're hurting the one guy who genuinely loves you as much as you love him by keeping silent. Simon's smart, talk to him and maybe _**that**_ will help you…"

The door shut and the small room fell silent, after a few minutes of silence; Jeanette looked up into Susan's eyes and asked, "Do you think I should go see him?"

"Definitely Jeanette, I think that's the only way that either of you will feel better."

"What if…" she began to ask before being silenced by Susan.

"No more what if's Jeanette…If I learned anything," she said, looking down at her stomach and smiling, "It's that bad things happen in everyone's life, but what makes us what we are is whether or not we decide to get over them and keep on living. You won't fully heal until you start your life again where it left off. And if I remember correctly, you stopped living while you were in love…" and having said her peace, she got up off the bed and went out the bedroom door, shutting it soundlessly behind her.

Jeanette sat there for what felt like eternity thinking about what her sister and friend had said. Was she really hurting Simon by dwelling on the past? She had to find out. She leapt off the bed and grabbed her jacket and keys off the dresser and headed out the door. She was out the front door and in her truck before anyone could even think to stop her and ask her where she was going. She was in such a rush that the drive took her half the usual time and she was sure that had there been any cops around; she would _**not**_ have arrived at the guys house anytime soon. When she finally got to their house, she killed the engine and jumped out, sprinting up to their front door. She rang the bell and was relieved to see that it was Dave who answered the door.

"Hi Jeanette." he said cheerfully, welcoming her inside. "How are you doing? I heard about what happened on Friday… is there anything I can do for you?"

"Not really Dave, but thank you anyway. I really just need to see Simon… is he here?"

"Sure he's here. He hasn't really left his own room much since Saturday… is it something important?"

"Kind of, can you keep Alvin and Theo away from the room for a while?" she asked, knowing how bad that would sound coming from anyone else.

"If it will make you feel better sure." Dave agreed, nodding understandingly.

He got up from the couch; called Alvin and Theo down from their rooms and told them that they were going out for a little while. They looked shocked when they came down and saw Jeanette sitting there, but the look Dave shot them obviously told them to keep their mouths shut. All three of them shuffled out the door and Dave looked back as he shut the door and told her that they'd be back in an hour.

"Thanks again Dave." She said gratefully

"Not at all Jeanette, just see what you can do for Simon okay? I'm worried about him…" Dave replied sadly as he shut the door and silence fell over the usually noisy house.

Simon tried to remember the last time he had any sleep. He glanced at the clock near his bed fleetingly and figured that he had been awake for roughly 30 plus hours. "Strange," he thought to himself, "I'm not near as tired as I thought I would be…" while he was contemplating this, he heard his door crack open. "Probably just the guys again trying to get me to do something with them…" he reflected numbly.

"Will you just leave me alone?" he said without turning around, "I've told you guys already that I don't need to _**get out**_ and _**do something**_ so just leave me alone okay?"

"Simon…" the visitor said quietly, but he recognized that voice… he turned around and stared aghast at Jeanette standing in his doorway looking as haggard as he felt.

"Jeanette," he said cautiously, afraid that if this were a dream that she would disappear. "Is this real?"

She laughed slightly, a warm sound after the self imposed silence he had endured the last three days, "Yes Simon, I'm real. And you look horrible." She commented, smiling at him nonetheless.

"Why didn't you call?" he asked, feeling self conscious as he looked down at his ratty t-shirt and athletic shorts, "I could have at least washed up and changed."

"I didn't plan to come out here. It just sort of happened on the spur of the moment. I needed to see you." She admitted, blushing.

"So does this mean you're feeling better?" he asked tentatively

"I think it means I'm getting there." She told him as they both smiled at the news. She herself hadn't realized the significance of her actions until he asked.

"And is that why Dave took the guys out of the house?" Simon asked, trying to look serious, but at the same time, letting his happiness and laughter shine through for her to see.

"Yeah…" she admitted through gritted teeth. "I wasn't sure how this was going to go, so I asked your dad to keep Theo and Alvin out of the way. Do you think that was too much?" she asked.

"Not at all," he reassured her smilingly, "In fact, this works out best because I don't know how to say what I want to…"

"Well, what do you want to say?" Jeanette asked curiously, "Is it bad?"

"Not bad, just might be inappropriate if the timings off…" he admitted, scratching the back of his head like he always did when he was nervous.

After a few minutes of silence during which he tried to muster up his courage and Jeanette stared at him in suspense, he finally cracked and spilled it all in the same breath.

"Jeanettepleasedon'''restilltogether,?"

Jeanette sat there in silence for a second or two before looking Simon in the eye and saying seriously, "Simon, I only heard about the first three words. So excuse me if I sound frustrated, but _**what?**_"

He was so relieved that she didn't think he was crazy that he laughed until his sides hurt and when he was done, he looked up from his spot on the floor and saw that she was smiling along with him. Simon calmed down finally and tried again..

"Jeanette, please don't be mad at me for what happened. I love you and would never want anything bad to happen to you and if we're still together, would you like to go out on a date with me tomorrow while the others are out at school?"

She pretended to think about it for a minute or two while at the same time trying not to burst from joy. She had been scared that he wouldn't want her anymore, and here he had had the same fear. When she finally stopped teasing him and told him yes, he started to cry a little and held her close to him. Jeanette held onto him tightly like he was the anchor in her life, which in a way he was… they agreed to leave from her house the next day before lunch. And she got up and left to go share the news with her mother and sisters and Susan. But before she left Simon's house, he grabbed her by the arm, pulled her in close, and kissed her in a spontaneous show of ecstasy and joy. She found herself returning it and it was hands down the best kiss they had ever shared to date.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and all too soon, she found herself behind the wheel of her truck heading to her house as the silhouette of Simon faded in the distance behind her. When she pulled into the driveway, she wasn't surprised to see her mother standing out in the dusky light of the evening on the porch, her arms crossed in worry.

"Just where did you go?" she asked immediately after Jeanette stepped out of the truck.

"I went to go see Simon." she said smiling, the apparent change in her mood from just under an hour ago apparently taking her mom by surprise…

"And what did you talk about?" she asked, less urgency in her voice, and a more relaxed air about her this time.

Jeanette told her what had happened, how they had both been afraid of the same thing, and how they were going to spend the day together tomorrow. Miss Miller smiled as she saw that her daughter had healed at least a little. She then suggested that Jeanette get inside the house and tell the rest of the girls about it. Jeanette of course happily agreed. Miss Miller stepped to the side as Jeanette rushed inside and as she shut the door, she looked up at the stars and said a silent prayer of thanks before heading inside to the din of four excited girls. Their family was finally getting back to normal….

_**Well I hope you enjoyed that. As always, I am glad if you read it all and took it all in. please Read and Review if you want me to improve at all. I am accepting Beta requests and am happy to help anyone with anything they may have questions on. If you have personal questions about the characters, please shoot me an IM and pass the story on to your friends. I will be out of town (camping in the woods) as of Sunday morning, and unfortunately, there will not be another chapter update until the Friday or Saturday after next… for reference, it is 6-18-10 today.**_

_**Anyway, Happy Summer to you all, have fun, and a special thanks to Amon23, Simon wanna be, and starbin21. You guys are the most frequent reviewers and I thank you. To everyone else…**_

_**REVIEW THE DAMN THING!**_

_**Sorry for the frustration, but please, in all seriousness. Review what you read. I love input and comments more than a writer has a right to. Humor me will you?**_

_**Happy Reading, and Writing,**_

_**Musicalreader **_


	24. Chapter 22

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XXII

_**With a dedication to Anon. reviewer Wendy… here's to you whether or not you ever read my stories. Get well soon. **___

When they walked back in the house after a quick outing with their dad, Alvin and Theodore were surprised to see Simon not only out of his room, but also in the kitchen working on what smelled like an omelet. And to top it all off and make it the strangest sight they had seen in days, he was humming a really bad 80's song.

"Simon?" Alvin called, trying to get his attention…

"Hmm? Oh hi guys!" he answered, "Wasn't expecting you home so soon."

"You feeling ok there dude?" Theo asked from the doorway.

"I feel great Theodore." Simon reassured him, beaming as he said it.

Dave placed his hands on the backs of his sons and guided them into the living room for a quick word.

"You know that Jeanette was over here, I think this has something to do with that." He guessed.

"That's one thing," Alvin said, "But what happened that got him in such a great mood?"

"I don't care," Theo said, "I'm just glad that he stopped moping."

Just then, Simon walked into the living room carrying a plate with his food on it. "Oh, by the way dad," he said, "Is it cool if me and Jeanette hang out tomorrow?"

"Uh, sure, I guess?" Dave answered, happy that Simon was back to normal, but still a little shocked at the sudden turnaround.

"Cool." Simon replied smiling earnestly, "Well, I'm going to finish this and then I'm going to go to bed." he stated before turning around on his heels and walking back into the kitchen.

"What the hell just happened?" Alvin asked.

"I believe that we can assume that Jeanette and Simon are healing..." Dave guessed. It would be several minutes before anyone in the living room moved from their seats in the contemplative silence.

Susan had always felt like an outcast as of late. The closest thing she had to a family was the residents of Miss Miller's house. When Jeanette had been attacked, she had felt like the universe was out to hurt her and anyone she held dear. But she had made a vow that she would not let Jeanette go through the hell she did. After she had told her to just take the plunge and talk to Simon, she had been scared that Jeanette would crack and never be the same. But when her adoptive sister walked into the house that night, with a smile on her face that could have lit up the city, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"So how'd it go?" Susan asked anxiously.

"He loves me." Was all she said before calling her other two sisters downstairs while Miss Miller walked in the front door behind them…

"Where were you Jeanette?" Britney asked, miffed that her sister had left without an apparent word to her.

"I'm sorry that I scared you Brit." Jeanette explained, still grinning like a lunatic. "But if I had waited the extra few seconds, I don't know if I could have followed through with it."

"Followed through with what?" Eleanor asked.

"I went to go see Simon and talk to him. when I got there, he was just as much a mess as I was, and when we finally got words out, we found out that we were both scared of the same thing."

"Which was?" Susan prodded, trying to get her sister to open up just a little more so she could finally be put to ease.

"We were scared that the other wouldn't love us. He was waiting for me to call, and I was waiting for him. But we were both scared to be rejected because of what happened." She explained, her face falling slightly as she said the last sentence.

"And?" the three girls asked Jeanette at once, like they had rehearsed it.

"And he told me that he loves me," She finished, the phrase making her sisters crush her in a group hug. When she could breathe again, she finished the statement. "We're going to meet up tomorrow and hang out since we don't have anything to do and nowhere to be"

This last bit of news made her sisters all but shatter the windows with the din of their excitement. She finally managed to extricate herself from the small mob and wound her way up the stairs to her room to get some sleep for the big day tomorrow.

Simon and Jeanette met up in the school parking lot by chance the next day after driving their siblings' in. when they saw each other, it was apparent to the others just how much they truly cared about each other. While Alvin, Theo, Britney, Ellie, and Susan walked into the school building, Simon and Jeanette started talking about what they were going to do…

"Well, I don't know what I want to do today." Simon admitted, "I was just glad to get out of the house and spend time with you."

Jeanette laughed and held his hand, "I was just about to say the same thing."

Simon blushed and looked down, suddenly feeling self conscious. He had gotten out of bed that morning and had only planned to drive Theo and Alvin in. Then he was going to go home and get ready for his lunch date. Now here he was in front of Jeanette without even being showered. He was even still wearing the shirt he wore to bed. Unbeknownst to him, a similar feeling of awkwardness was going through Jeanette. She too had only thought to get really presentable right before their date. As they looked at the dirt beneath their feet, they wondered if it was noticeable to the other.

After a tense silence, Jeanette had an idea, "How about we go back to our houses and try and find something we want to do?"

Simon breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized the opportunity to get showered and changed. He nodded in agreement, and they agreed that he would pick Jeanette up at her house at about noon. When they walked back to their respective rides, they were as excited as they had been the night before.

The first thing Jeanette did when she got home was to run to the bathroom with her towel so she could wash up. She took her time in the shower, even taking the extra care to shave a little; a chore she had neglected for almost a week. When she was sufficiently clean and comfortable yet again, she stepped out of the water and toweled off, her long curly hair falling down her back and sending shivers up her spine.

Simon had told her once that her hair was one of his favorite things about her physically… she silently wondered what else he liked about her appearance… in any case, she finished up in the bathroom and padded across the carpet to her room. She opened up her closet and finally decided on a pair of black jeans and a tie-dye purple shirt.

When she was dressed, she went downstairs and got a quick bite out of the refrigerator; then she sat down on the couch and watched some news while she waited impatiently for the clock to move faster form 11 to 12… she was getting anxious as the larger hand got closer to the quarter 'til mark, and she had to restrain herself from jumping out of the seat when the doorbell rang at ten 'til.

Simon had cleaned up in record time when he got home. And his clothes were a relatively simple matter for him. In fact, it seemed like the he was finally awake. Ever since Jeanette came and visited him the night before… in any case, he wanted the day to be special for her and on his drive home; he had an idea for something that they hadn't done in years.

When the preparations were done, he put the surprise in the car and headed over to Jeanette's house. He had to rush a little bit so that she wouldn't be stuck waiting, and when he finally pulled up at ten 'til, he made sure that the surprise hadn't shifted and when he was reassured, he walked up her front steps and rang the doorbell. Jeanette answered with a simple outfit, but she looked radiant nonetheless. Maybe it was the fact that she was smiling again?

"Hey Simon." she greeted, "Are you ready to go?"

"I am if you are." He joked, stepping back from the doorway so that she could exit and lock her house up. When she was done, they walked to his car and climbed in.

"You seem excited…" she commented earnestly, "Did you think of anything to do?"

"Yep, and you'll love it for sure. At least it might. It depends…"

"What does it depend on?" she asked curiously

"It depends on are you hungry or not?" He replied as they sped off down the road towards the city park…

Simon had been worried that she wouldn't want to go to another park after what had happened Monday, but was pleased to see that she was happy. Maybe it had to do with the fact that it was a different park? In any case, he parked the car and led her over to a spot near the lake, the morning mist still dissipating and leaving a very interesting fog like formation. He told her to stay put as he hurried back to the car to get the surprise. He made sure that he was back as soon as possible in case she was uncomfortable. But he worried for nothing, because when he walked back with the bag in hand, she was sitting down trying to see shapes in the dissipate over the water…

"See anything funny yet?" he asked, startling her out of her silent revelry.

"Not yet, but I think that I saw a rabbit in it earlier." She commented, looking back at him and smiling.

"Well, I have part one of the surprise for you right here." He said holding out the basket.

"What is it Si?" she asked, using his pet name.

He blushed as he pulled out a blanket and some smaller containers of food. When it was all set up, he sat down and motioned for her to join him for a picnic. She sat down and relaxed as they began to eat the small lunch Simon had put together…

"Simon, is this baklava?" Jeanette asked when they reached the container of dessert.

"Uh… yeah, yeah it is." He responded bashfully.

"When did you make this?" she wondered out loud.

"Well, I went on a kind of food kick last night and Theo helped me make some of this. I saved some for you and decided that it was a good time to bring it out. Is it too much?"

"No sweetie. I love it." She reassured him giving him a kiss on the cheek.

When they were done, they lay back on the blanket and stared at the sky, trying to see different things in the clouds, watching the birds fly overhead. In general, they were just relaxing and enjoying life. While they sat on the blanket, Jeanette began to think about what she wanted to do for the day. There was something about this park that was special… she just couldn't remember what it was…Suddenly, Simon sat up in one quick fluid motion that caused Jeanette to jump in surprise.

"I just thought of something awesome." He blurted out, bending over again to pack everything up.

"What do you mean?" Jeanette asked.

"I mean, help me pack this stuff up and I'll take you to see something I think you'll really like." He explained, not stopping the packing as he spoke. When everything was picked up and he had run it back to his car, he hurried back to where Jeanette stood and took her hand and led her down one of the smaller paths in the woods of the park.

As they got deeper into the trees, Jeanette had a nagging sense of déjà vu, like she had been here before… but when? and why? Finally, Simon stopped dead in his tracks and she almost ran into him.

"Why'd you stop Simon?" she asked.

"We're here. Do you remember where we are?" he replied quizzically.

"No," she told him as she looked around, not seeing anything besides a bunch of really old, really big trees.

"Try and un-focus your eyes and just look at the tree right in front of us." He suggested, moving out of the way so she could see clearly.

Jeanette stared at the tree in front of her and slowly, she began to see shapes under the moss and the bark. She could make out a small arch that looked suspiciously like a door at the base about four feet high. And just to the left of the arch, there was a perfectly shaped square with small rivets running in odd directions around the face of it. She stepped forward and yanked a clump of the growth away to reveal an eye achingly bright shade of pink with faded gold script. She pulled the rest of the moss off and read what it said. _**The Chipettes **_she was struck by the realization that this was her and her sister's old tree house from when they were little and on their own. That was why the path and the forest felt so familiar… she had lived here as a small girl. She moved over to the small arch she now knew to be the front door and pushed. Jeanette was surprised to see that the door creaked open moss and all and the inside looked almost exactly like she remembered it from when the three sisters would come here and go about their day to day business.

Simon walked in behind her, ducking to get in the small entrance, and stood up as high as he could. After all, the entire place had been made by the girls to fit them when they were around 7 and 8 years old. Everything was small. He looked around the old living room and saw that nothing had been moved. Like a bubble of time forever preserved against the creeping effects of dilapidation and decay. The only really new thing was a small nest of birds on top of the radio in the corner next to the now dusty couch. He scanned the rest of the room and when he was done, he watched Jeanette to see her reaction. All of a sudden, she froze, turned on the spot, and rushed over to the tiny staircase behind Simon. He moved out o the way and followed her upstairs.

Jeanette reached the yellow door without stopping to check out any of the others. There was something she had to see. Something she had forgotten about until just moments ago. The rest of the house was still together. Why not her secret? It had been the one thing she had truly treasured above all else when she was little, and she had kept it safe from even her sisters. She walked to the end of the shared bedroom the three girls used to occupy until she came to the end bed… her bed.

She ran her fingers along the baseboards next to her bed and felt the forgotten change in the wood. She dug one of her nails into the inconsequential gap and wedged the small board out of its slot. She reached in the secret hole she had made and dug out the box that held all her childhood treasures. She opened the lid and pulled out her first ribbon, her baby shoes, the notes from the first story she ever wrote, a necklace worth a dime she had won after spending ten dollars in the arcade, and at the very bottom, underneath various holiday cards and knick knacks, she found what she was looking for…

Simon walked in and saw Jeanette hunched over an old mattress and looking down intently on what looked like a scrap of paper. He tried not to disturb her as he lurched uneasily over to where she kneeled down on the dusty ground. It took a lot of effort on his part to avoid banging the ceiling, but he eventually reached his goal and looked over Jeanette's shoulder at what he now realized to be a photograph from years ago. He looked closer and thought he recognized the figures in the snap shot…

"Hey, it's you and me." He said surprised. "When was this taken?"

"At the first Christmas after Britney, Eleanor, and me came to town. You and your family invited us over to a small party and we got caught under the mistletoe together." Jeanette said, her voice telling him that she was far away in her mind.

"Oh yeah," he said, "I remember that now. Alvin caught us under it and he wouldn't let us leave unless we kissed."

"You were adamant about not kissing me at the time." she said laughingly, "I didn't realize it at the time. But I had really wanted to kiss you. I liked you even then you know."

"And I liked you too. Even if I didn't act it…" he said, feeling guilty for no reason.

"Do you know why this was here?" she asked

"No, I didn't even know there was a picture."

"I kept it." She said, looking him dead in the eyes as she spoke, "I kept this even though we didn't kiss because when I used to look at it, I would see a moment right before we did. It let me believe that we would be together eventually. I would pull this out and stare at it for hours some days when I had been too scared to tell you how I felt."

"Well, look at it this way." He said comfortingly, "You were right. We are together. And I'll always be there for you. I was there for you then, even if I didn't say it out loud. You still knew I cared. And I always hoped that you cared about me."

"You know what the first thing I noticed about you was?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You used to say it was my height." He joked

"I liked every time I said that." She said, "The first thing I noticed about you was that even if you weren't the oldest brother, you were the one who protected everybody, even Alvin and especially Theodore."

"That's a lot deeper than what I saw in you the first time…" he muttered.

"What did _you_ see in me?" Jeanette asked, her tears drying up a little as she came back to reality.

"I noticed your eyes." He said simply, "You have always had beautiful eyes. I remember the first time I saw you; I couldn't even speak because I was too distracted by the color of them. I remember thinking, _wow, that is the most beautiful shade of purple I have ever seen_"

When he said that, the tears sprang back to life, but these were tears not of sadness or remembrance, but of joy. And she was so overcome by emotion that she hugged him tight and pulled his face to hers and kissed him softly. A tender kiss, a pure kiss, filled with every shade of love humanly imaginable. And to add to the sweetness of it all, this was a fleeting kiss that lasted a second, maybe two. And after she pulled away, Simon was still stunned and looked dazed and confused when she got up and helped him up as well. They left the tree house, promising themselves that they would come back and fix it up, and headed back to the car to go home. Simon dropped Jeanette off at her house and they promised that the next day, their last one off of school, she would pick him up before noon. When they were done saying goodbye, Simon pulled away from the curb and headed home to his family. Jeanette on the other hand, walked into the quiet of her home and sat on the couch and stared at the picture of the Christmas a lifetime ago. She stared so intently at it that she scarcely noticed the passing time, and when her sisters came in the front door a little under an hour later, she snapped out of her daze and walked over to greet them.

"Jeanette, what's in your hand?" Ellie asked, always the one to notice the details.

"Just an old picture." Jeanette said brushing the question aside as she slid the photo into her back pocket.

"What of?" Britney asked.

"Nothing much… just a promise I guess."

"A picture of a promise?" Britney scoffed gently, never seeming to understand what her sister talked about half the time.

"Trust me Brit, if you knew the story, you'd understand." Jeanette reassured her before heading up to her room to leave her sisters downstairs wondering.

They looked at each other when she shut her door and shrugged. "Writers," Eleanor summed up, "Who knows what they're saying?"

_**Well, here's hoping that you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry about the delay on this one. But I was in the woods, like I said last time, for a week and then I wanted to take my time and make it really something. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. The next chapter will probably be the last one in the Simon/Jeanette storyline before switching over to the last couple, Theo and Ellie, to end the entire story. a shout out to all the reviewers who responded last time. No joke, 6 reviews in the first two hours, you made me feel all warm and fuzzy. And a special call out to any and all ANONYMOUS reviewers. You guys are awesome and my condolences to the family of Anon. Reviewer Wendy. Let's all hope she gets better soon.**_

_**Final thing to say, because it actually got responses last time…**_

_**REVIEW IT IF YOU READ IT! THIS GOES FOR ANONYMOUS AS WELL AS MEMBERS! THE MORE THE BETTER…**_

_**Okay, now that that's out of my system, Happy Fourth of July to the U.S. and hope everyone's having a great summer/winter depending on your hemisphere.**_

_**Happy Reading,**_

_**Musicalreader **_


	25. Chapter 23

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XXIII

The next day, Simon got up right after his brothers had gone off to school and Dave had left for work of his own. When he had the house to himself, he ate a huge breakfast of eggs, bacon, and some homemade biscuits Ellie had brought over while he was out of it in his room on Tuesday. After he had eaten, he ran up the stairs and headed for the shower; taking care to get a towel on his way in. he turned on the faucet and let the water heat up while he checked his face in the mirror. He had always had a bit of a problem with his acne. And he was pleased to see that for once, his skin would be kind to him. Once his morning routine was done and he had gotten dressed, he went downstairs to kill time in front of the computer. He had decided to pull away from the Blue and Black look for a change and was wearing a simple old pair of blue jeans and one of his favorite shirts. It was a thin maroon T with the Ace of Spades taking up most of the front. Underneath it in script was the phrase, "Rock n' Roll, American made since 1950"

As the hand got closer to the noon mark, he found himself struggling more and more to contain his excitement. All of a sudden, his phone buzzed… he looked at the display expecting to see a message from Jeanette, but instead, it was a message from Alvin.

_**Go to my room right now.**_ It said.

_**Why?**_ Simon replied.

_**Just do it and you won't regret it.**_ Alvin promised.

Simon sighed as he climbed the stairs and walked to the first door on the left, Alvin's room…

_**Ok, I'm here. What do you need me in here for?**_

_**Do you see a cigar box under my CD rack?**_

_**Yeah, what of it?**_ Simon answered.

_**Open it up and take out any two you want. I have a feeling you'll need them more than I will today…**_ Alvin replied cryptically.

"What the hell?" Simon wondered out loud as he opened the lid and was shocked to see a small stack of what were clearly condoms held together by a rubber band. He had no idea why his brother would tell him to grab a couple, but if there was one thing he was sure of, Britney had a hand in it. But he just didn't feel right grabbing something like that. Jeanette was almost assuredly not ready for that step…

No sooner had he stuffed the tiny embarrassing packages out of sight back in the cigar box, than the doorbell rang. He looked at the wall clock and saw that it was the time Jeanette said she'd be there. He rushed to the door and flung it open anxiously…

Jeanette had had a wonderful dream the night before. She couldn't remember much past the first few minutes where she remembered Simon holding her close and just feeling perfectly at home in his arms. She woke up with a warm feeling over her whole person. And as the vapors of the dream faded, she had an idea to get even with Simon for the day before. But she would have to borrow a couple things from her sisters. Not that they would mind. After all, they had helped her set up a surprise for Simon and her just the night before. So why would they care if she grabbed a couple of things to help…

When she was washed, dressed, and fed, she made sure she was careful not to disturb her sister's belongings as she rifled through their drawers. She finally found what she was looking for in Eleanor's top drawer. No surprise there, she thought to herself silently, as she exited her little sister's room. When she was completely prepared for her date, she grabbed the keys to her truck and headed off to Simon's house. When she arrived, she walked up to his front door like normal and rang his doorbell. She wasn't too surprised at how fast he answered, but she was a little puzzled by the flustered expression on his face. She would have asked what was wrong, but the look was gone as quickly as it had appeared, so she let the question die silently in her head.

"Hey Jeanette," he said smiling and inviting her inside, "You look beautiful."

She blushed at the compliment, especially given what she had planned for them that afternoon, nevertheless, she tried to act like nothing was out of the ordinary and returned the compliment, "Thanks Simon, you look handsome yourself."

"So what are we going to do today?" he asked, feeling nervous…

"Well, yesterday was your turn to surprise me, so I decided that today I'd return the favor." Jeanette answered, smiling devilishly at him.

Simon was definitely intrigued now. Jeanette didn't do the whole _**surprise**_ thing often, if ever. This was going to be a day to remember he was sure. Then she did something he was not expecting, she pulled out a strip of cloth and told him that he would have to put it on as a blindfold to get the surprise. Was this the same girl he had known for years? Nevertheless, he put on the blindfold and tried not to rip as she led him out the door and down the steps to her truck…

He tried not to fall asleep during the car ride. It was hard though, Jeanette refused to talk to him for fear that she would give the secret away, and the ride seemed to go on forever. When the engine was finally cut off, he started to go for the blindfold to take it off, but was stopped by Jeanette slapping his hand away playfully and chiding him. "We're only part way to the surprise Si, now have some patience…"

She helped him out of the cab and they started to walk down a rocky/mulchy path under some shade. They walked for what felt like ages more than the car ride, but Jeanette finally stopped him and told him that they were about to go inside a doorway and to duck. He didn't see what one order had to do with the other, but he complied and let Jeanette guide his head through what felt like a narrow opening. Wherever they were, it felt cooler to him and he reached for the blindfold again but was stopped for a second time by his girlfriend slapping his hand away. "Simon, for the last time, leave the blindfold on until I say so ok?" she said, an instructive tone to her voice.

"Alright, fine, but are we almost there yet?" Simon asked, sounding needy even to himself. But in all fairness, it was very strange not knowing where he was…

She took his hand and led him up a flight of stairs. Then walked a short while more and finally she told him to uncover his eyes; he ripped the blindfold off and was surprised to see that they were back in the girls old tree house. And not just that, but they were outside a room Simon had no memory of existing… what was in there?

"Your surprise is inside…" Jeanette taunted, dangling the key in front of his face, "but do you think you're up for it?"

"I think I'm in good shape for anything you could have in there." He replied somewhat arrogantly, turning the key in the lock and pushing the door open.

Inside, he was definitely surprised, mostly because the room was empty except for a couple of things… namely, what looked like a dozen hooks in the wall, some rope in the corner, and a mattress just thrown in the middle of the room.

"Uh, Jeanette? What is this?" he asked hesitantly, suddenly getting chills from the setup.

"It's something I've wanted to show you for a while now actually." She said, walking into the room confidently and motioning for him to follow. They sat down on the mattress and she tried her best to explain about the strange room.

"You know how everyone has their own little secret?" she prompted, trying to ease the whole scene onto Simon.

"Yeah, but is this your secret?" he asked, "It looks like a torture room out of the medieval ages…"

"Well, you're part right. This is my secret, but it's not so much the room. And it's not for torture, it's for pleasure." She promised.

"So what the hell is it?" he asked, now thoroughly confused.

"Well, like I said, I have a secret, it's kind of dark though, you see, a while ago, while I was surfing the internet, I came across this site for Bondage, but not the illegal kind, the erotic kind…"

Simon thought for a minute about those words, then turned to Jeanette with a thoroughly confused look on his face, "So, you like to be tied up and taken advantage of?" he asked.

"Not by just _**anyone**_ Simon," she chided, "I only like the idea of it… the loss of control and the giving of myself completely to another that I truly love." She admitted.

"So if you just like the _**idea**_ of it, why did you bring me here?"

"Because, in case you haven't noticed… I really love you and I want to try it with you…" she told him, getting quieter as she finished speaking.

"Aw Jeanette, you know I'd do anything for you." Simon reassured her, kissing her on the forehead and eliciting a smile from her as a result.

"So you don't mind if we try this?" she asked.

"Well, I'm going to say this much, I don't see how we're going to try anything without getting carried away, and I didn't bring any protection."

"Don't worry about that." She reassured him smiling, "I took care of everything, I just wasn't sure if you were going to still like me after all this…"

"Jeanette," he started, "I love you for who you are, not what you like. If this is something you like, then I'll do what I can to make it enjoyable…"

Thank you Simon," she said getting up and walking over to the corner with the ropes. "Now, are you ready for some fun?"

Three hours later, Simon and Jeanette stumbled out of the tree house with dazed expressions. The time in the field had been fun for them both, but what had just happened was a whole new level of bliss and pleasure for them both. Jeanette looked at Simon with a mixture of awe and love. He had been fun to tie up at first, but the things he had done to her while she was held immobile by the ropes would stay with her forever. She didn't even think there were words to convey the ecstasy she had felt as she was brought to orgasm time and time again. She only hoped that he had had as much fun as she had.

Simon had no idea that Bondage could be so much fun… sure it had been fun when she had him tied and blindfolded, it was especially nice when she was teasing him with her tongue… but it was more fun for him to play with her when they switched places. He had no idea she could be so much fun when she couldn't move. But the way she squirmed and moaned for release. One thing he knew for certain, they would have to do that again…

The drive back to her house was calm, partly because Jeanette fell asleep, partly because there was nothing new to say. But when they arrived he woke Jeanette up and told her gently that they were at her house. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and climbed out of the cab, quite a feat considering the fact that she was still regaining the feeling in her legs after what Simon had done with her. She smiled at the recent memory…

They went inside with the intention of making something to eat, but they were surprised to find Eleanor and Theo sitting at the counter in the kitchen, food already cooked and spread out.

"I figured you'd want some lunch when you came back from your _date_" Eleanor said knowingly.

"Uhhh, thanks?" Simon said uncomfortably. Not really sure how to address Jeanette's little sister at the moment.

They sat down and began to eat quietly while Theo and Ellie sat there and talked easily. Thought there was the occasional sideways glance between Ellie and Jeanette. After another few minutes of awkward silence, Jeanette excused herself and Eleanor quickly followed her out of the room and up the stairs.

"So how was it?" Theo asked with a smug look on his face once the girls were out of the room.

"Holy shit dude, I totally know why you and Ellie do it as often as you do." Simon responded, Theo having temporarily changed roles from brother to fellow guy…

Theo leaned back in his seat and smiled, his eyes closed, "Yeah, it is something else isn't it?"

"You got that right…" Simon agreed, "Hey, what are they talking about you think?"

"Probably the same thing as us." Theo guessed, going back to his food.

Simon wondered what Eleanor and Jeanette were talking about…

_**Hey guys… Things have been hectic, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless and took the opportunity to imagine your own romance scene. I just figured that I'd give them their privacy to some extent. Chapter XXIV will be very short and will pretty much just be Jeanette's view of what happened, so I guess THAT will be the actual romance scene. After XXIV, I will be taking yet another break from GtKY and will write a multi-part interim story. I hope you will look forward to it. as always, REVIEW AND WRITE ME! I welcome ALL reviewers, Anonymous and Members alike. Stay awesome…**_

_**Happy Reading,**_

_**Musicalreader **___


	26. Chapter 24 XXX

Getting to Know You

Simon and Jeanette's story

Part XXIV

_**WARNING! This chapter is extremely graphic and to be perfectly honest, rather perverted. Please read at your discretion. You have been warned little ones. As for the older ones, I got a little carried away. Also, a side note to people just coming in to the story, this may be under the Chipmunks section of Fanfiction, but in my mind's eye, these are simply normal kids who can sing and dance. They are 17 at this point, and they are 100% HUMAN in appearance and mind. Just remember that as you read. To avoid confusion, the flashback parts are bolded.**_

_**This will be the last chapter about Simon and Jeanette. After this, I will take a break and write a new story. When I come back to this one, it will be under the characters Theodore and Eleanor.**_

"Jeanette" Eleanor called out quietly, racing after her sister down the hall.

"Huh? Oh, hey Ellie." She greeted, "What do you need?"

"I was chasing after you to find out what really happened between you and Simon."

"Ah, that… uh, do you really want to know or can it wait until tonight after the guys go home?"

"Well, I guess it can wait, but I want to know everything okay?" Eleanor said.

"Fine, whatever you say. But right now I really have to go to the bathroom now, alright Eleanor?" Jeanette replied, brushing past her little sister and rushing down the hall.

Later that same night in Jeanette's room…

Jeanette heard someone outside her room, judging by the shadow, she could guess that it was Eleanor come to talk to her about the events of her day with Simon.

"Come on in Ellie," she called out.

"Hey Jenn, uh, I guess you know why I'm here. I behaved while the guys were here…"

"Yes, I noticed that, and I did promise you that I'd tell you. Besides, it's only fair since you helped me set up the surprise…" Jeanette sighed, trying to remember everything that had happened in the room in the tree house. Everything was clouded in a fog of pleasure and excitement…

"Well, it started out very simple." Jeanette started, Eleanor visibly inching closer to her sister to better hear her.

"We kissed for a while, and it was, you know, great. But then he sort of slipped to the ground and pulled me down with him…" she continued as her mouth moved, her mind's eye watched the scene unfold again…

**Jeanette landed on top of Simon, but it wasn't long before he had flipped to be on top. She loved it when he took control like this…**

** "You ready to really do this Jenn?" he asked, looking her in the eye.**

"**If it's with you, I'll do anything." She promised, smiling at his hesitation. "But you know, since this is something I really wanted to try, maybe I should start?"**

"**I think that would be a smart idea." He agreed.**

** Jeanette stood up and helped Simon before leading him over to one of the walls with all the hooks on it. She turned him so his back was to the wall and she brought out the blindfold once again.**

"**Oh hell, this is going to be something else isn't it?" he asked, sarcastic annoyance laid on thick on his words.**

"**If you don't like it, I'll stop, but you'll have to beg for it." Jeanette told him, teasing as she tied the black cloth once again around his eyes.**

"**Whatever you say Jenn…" He whispered back.**

"**Now let's have some fun." She said as she took some of the rope and tied his arms to the wall spread eagle.**

**When she was done, she asked him if he could still feel his fingers and toes. When they were both sure that the knots were secure and safe, she pulled his shirt up as far as she could. She ran her fingertips over his stomach sending ripples of sensation all over his skin. He shivered underneath her touch and she smiled as she teased him some more by kissing across his chest and moving up towards his neck. Simon moaned as she started to bite his neck gently, distracting him while her fingers undid the buckle of his belt.**

"**Do you like this?" she asked, trying not to care about the answer, "If you want me to go on, beg for it like a good boy."**

"**Please don't stop Jeanette. I'll do anything if you keep going." He said, loving how into character she was.**

"**Hmm, I'll consider it…" she answered, making Simon bite his lip in frustration.**

**When she got quiet, Simon had no idea where she was, he just hoped she hadn't left. His fears were for naught though as he soon felt her again teasing her way across his front. But now it felt like she was moving downwards. He knew she had taken his belt off, but he was totally unprepared for when she popped the button on his jeans and pulled them down his legs. He couldn't see what was happening, but he had a good idea of what he looked like, his shirt pulled up revealing his abs, and his pants for all intents gone, his arousal out there for her to see uninhibited.**

**Jeanette was glad to see that he was so excited when she pulled Simon's jeans down to his knees. She was a little unsure of what to do from here, but her own position of control gave her an interesting idea… Jeanette got down on her knees in front of the living toy that was her boyfriend and slid one hand up the bulge that had formed under her tender care. As she moved her hand up, she was happy to hear him start moaning under his breath.**

"Jeanette!" Eleanor called, waving her hand in front of her older sister's face. "Are you there?"

"Wha… oh yeah, I'm here, just dazed off there for a minute Ellie."

"So? What happened after you tied him to the wall?" she asked, unnervingly interested in what had happened.

"Well, after he couldn't move, I tried some of the stuff I saw on your computer…" she admitted.

"What? You know about those files?" Eleanor asked, temporarily distracted.

"Yeah, it's what got me interested in Bondage, but like I was saying, I tried some of the things I saw on there."

"What exactly did you try?" Ellie begged, barely containing her curiosity.

"I, uh, kissed him for a while. Then I sort of bit him and took off his clothes. And then I got down on my knees…" she tapered off as she finished trying to get her little sister to fill in the blanks so she wouldn't have to say them out loud.

"Oh my God Jenn, did you blow him while he couldn't do anything?"

"Well, yeah, and some other stuff, but pretty much." Jeanette answered truthfully, never having been one to lie about anything.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you did other stuff while you were giving Simon head?"

"Uh, yes…" Jeanette said, going beet red in the face. When would Eleanor run out of questions?

"Okay, just so you don't have to say anything more about what _you_ did to him, can I guess and you just nod or shake your head?" Ellie proposed.

Jeanette breathed a sigh of relief and consented.

"Okay, you blew him. Were you doing anything else while that was happening?"

Jeanette nodded her head and blushed.

"Was it something you did to him?"

This time she shook her head and laughed, "I was too busy with just what I had of him to really do anything to him." She joked.

"So you did something to yourself?" Eleanor asked.

"Yeah, and it felt _**so good**_…" Jeanette said, eyes glazing over as she remembered the sensations vividly. Her lips wrapped around his manhood while her fingers brought her to climax right along with him.

"Holy shit, did you masturbate?" her little sister asked shocked and giggling.

"Well yeah. Why should he have all the fun?" Jeanette retorted.

"Hey, did I say it was a weird or a bad thing what you did?" Eleanor asked innocently, "I'm just amazed that _**you**_ of all people would be this bold."

"Whatever, can I get back to the story now?" Jeanette asked, her temper getting short after the questions. At least she could say what he had done to her without going mute from embarrassment…

"Please do." Ellie prompted, pulling a pillow up to her chest to hold on to.

"Okay then… after the, foreplay from me, I untied him and said that it was his turn to please me"…

**Simon had almost cum when Jeanette stopped what she was doing and stood up. She was very quiet and that scared him for some reason. Then the next thing he knew, the blindfold was off his face and he could see her standing before him in nothing but her panties. He could make out every perfect curve and every goosebump on her skin perfectly in the dim light.**

**Jeanette walked toward him and undid the knots so his hands could fall free. When he was released from the restraints, he rubbed the stiffness out of his wrists and stared at the vision of beauty in front of him, trying her best to look innocent. He laughed as he thought of all the things he would do to her. She smiled and blushed as he guided her until her back was also to the wall with the hooks. But he had a more elaborate set up in mind for her than simply spreading her limbs and having his way with her… she was going to feel so many new things she would beg for more.**

"So you guys switched places… is that all? Seems like a letdown after the first part." Eleanor commented.

"Actually, it got a whole lot more interesting." Jeanette corrected.

**Simon decided not to go with the blindfold. Instead, he tied a loop of rope around Jeanette's neck and trailed the remainder of it down her front. The fibers itched slightly as they rubbed against the sides of her breasts, but the real sensation came when he fed the rope between her legs and over top of her soaked panties. She felt the line like a concentrated force and she almost came the second he applied force to the rope and looped the other end through one of the hooks.**

** "Comfortable?" he asked, a seductively wicked glint in his eyes.**

"**Yes. It feels so good." Jeanette answered truthfully, straining against the restraints that were driving her insane.**

** "What was that? I don't think you understand your position at the moment my dear. You are mine for now. I'll do what I want with you while I have you, and if you want something, you should ask nicely."**

"**Yes sir, I love how you are teasing me…" She corrected, ecstatic that he seemed to be really getting into the whole experience.**

** "What exactly feels good?" he asked, pulling on the rope and consequently sending a few more waves of pleasure all through her core, and pushing her even more so towards the edge.**

"**M…my…my pussy feels good sir." She stuttered out, "I love it when you play with me like that."**

** "That's a good love slave." He commented, "And as a reward for your honesty, I'll show you pleasure like you showed me…"**

** Her toes curled in anticipation from the promise. And she continued to soak through the thin material that just covered her own arousal. First though, he made her go from kneeling, to supporting herself on her hands and knees. He then made her face the wall. When she was positioned how he wanted, he took out a multi tool and cut the sides of her underwear away so that he could see her moist lips and her rosy pink flesh, just waiting for him. As he pulled the material away, he noticed her cringing. He couldn't figure out why that would be until he noticed that the rope was now directly pressing into her most sensitive point. Simon thought about it for a second and came up with a way to really make Jenn cry out his name. **

**His hands started out on the small of her back and trailed down until they were on her upper thighs. As he started to massage her, taking care to make the rope move across the sensitive bundle of nerves, Jeanette started to moan loudly. Her body rocked and finally started to shudder from the sensation. Finally, after only a few more seconds, without him ever touching a single part of her besides skin, she called out his name and her whole body clenched as she reached the breaking point and actually started to leak out onto the floor.**

"**Did you ask to cum?" Simon said without anger in his voice.**

"**No I didn't. I didn't know I had to." Jeanette explained when she had control of her voice again.**

** "You'll have to be punished for that. But don't worry. It's not a harsh punishment…" he told her confidently. This was turning out to be the best thing he had ever experienced. And the fact that Jeanette was enjoying it so much only made it all the better.**

** Simon cut the rope away from her body and used the remains to tie her hands behind her back. "Now if you need to cum. You ask first understood?" he reiterated.**

"**Yes sir." She answered obediently, smiling up at the one man she loved more than anything. She knew she was safe with him.**

**With her consent, he knelt behind her and held her tight against him back to front. She lifted her arms; wrists bound, and put them around his neck to hold him while he ravished her. He started out gently, his hands grazing across her skin, teasing her nipples and leaving trails of warmth wherever he went. Then he grew bolder and massaged her breasts with one hand while he kissed and gently nipped her neck. While all this was happening, she could feel his free hand moving slowly towards her aching sex. She needed him so bad.**

"Damn Jeanette… you're a lot more adventurous than I thought." Eleanor commented.

"Well, it's not like I'm boring. I just don't advertise it like you and Britney do."

"Uh huh, whatever you say Jenn." Ellie responded, "So he fingered you, anything else?"

"Yes. Now if you would stop interrupting, I could get on with the story."

"Just skip the fingering part. I want to know what happened _after_…"

"Fine… what happened after that? Oh yeah…"

**Jeanette was having a hard time thinking straight after Simon brought her to climax yet again. She had no idea where he got his skill, but she knew she was going to go crazy from the teasing. As she gushed from the care his fingers were showing her, she quietly begged him to stop. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than he pulled away from her and turned her to face him.**

"**Is something wrong?" he asked, concern lighting his eyes in the dim room.**

** "Please, I'm begging you, stop teasing and just fuck me." She whispered, still out of breath.**

**He smiled wickedly, partly from relief that he wasn't hurting her, partly from sheer delight at her choice of words. "Well, I would," he said hesitantly, "But I didn't bring any protection, and there is no way I'm letting you become a mother just yet."**

** "Don't worry about that." She told him, reaching her arms up and around his neck, pulling him in for a tender kiss, "I thought ahead. Look in the front pocket of that bag over there." She instructed, nodding her head in the direction of the far corner of the room.**

**He rummaged through the pocket she had indicated and came up with several different color and size packets in a plastic sandwich bag. "Wow…" he commented, "you really did think of everything didn't you?"**

** Jeanette giggled and nodded, blushing.**

"**So how does my little beauty want to do for her first time?" he asked when he had picked out a condom his size from the pile.**

** "Please take me however you want. Just let me see you." She answered, staying in character the whole time.**

**Simon smiled and nodded in response. He fumbled with the packaging for a second or two and when he finally got the small roll of latex out, he had a moment of panic. He had never had to put one on and had never felt the need to practice. The panic soon passed and when the condom was in place, he pressed close into Jeanette's front and pushed her to the ground, her arms over her head for comfort.**

"**Are you ready?" he asked.**

"**As much as I can be, please be gentle…" she answered looking up into the face of her oldest and most loved friend.**

** "Don't worry," he consoled her gently running his hand down her cheek, "I would never want to hurt you…"**

**She tensed up for the twinge of pain she knew would come and wrapped her arms around Simon's broad shoulders. He eased in gently at first until he hit the small barrier and in one smooth quick motion, thrust into it. Small tears formed in the corner of Jeanette's eyes and Simon stopped all motion short of breathing. After a moment of tense silence, she nodded that she was okay and he continued slowly inside her. The heat and the tightness almost sent him over the edge, but he concentrated on Jeanette and trying to please her…**

** When he hit bottom, Jeanette felt every inch of him. It was amazing and at the same time, frightening. It felt incredible when he wasn't moving, she couldn't wait until he started to move. She didn't have long to wait, when Simon realized that he had gone as far as he could, he started to ease out almost all the way, and thrust back in quickly. Jeanette's world, already blurry from the multiple orgasms earlier, was suddenly almost nonexistent except for the sensation of him sliding in and out of her like she had dreamed of for years.**

** Simon had no idea how he was doing, but judging from her expression, he was pretty sure that Jeanette was enjoying herself. He continued his rhythm, trying his best not to stop before she came for him one last time. He didn't have to wait long, as he pushed into her as much as he could, he felt her tense up beneath him and moan as yet another wave of pleasure pushed her over the edge. He could no longer contain his own excitement and spilled everything he had been holding back. He lost all his control and pulled her close as they rode the waves of ecstasy together and drifted off into pure bliss in each other's arms.**

"Damn…" was all Eleanor could say when Jeanette finished her story.

"Yeah…" Jeanette replied, not really sure how to end the discussion, "You promise not to tell mom right?"

"Of course Jeanette, I would never do that to you." Ellie swore, still blushing, her sister having been a lot less innocent than she thought.

"Well, I think it's getting late," Jeanette said looking at the clock which now read 11:47

"Yeah, listen, Jeanette…"

"What is it Ellie?"

"I just wanted to say, I'm really happy for you. You got together with a great guy, and from the sound of things, you guys are really happy." She told her sister.

"What brought this on?" Jeanette asked, confused by the odd statement.

"Well, it's just that me and Theo are having a bit of a rough patch is all, and it's nice to hear something like this. You know, the kinds of romance stuff you only ever read about."

"Um, I don't think most people would call what we do _romance_, but if you need to talk to someone about what's going on, you know you can always come to me right?" she offered.

"Thanks Jenn, I'll leave you alone now so you can get some sleep. It sounds like you need it…" she commented, winking as she left the room and shut the door.

_**Across town, the same night…**_

"So I heard you and Jeanette finally did it huh?" Alvin asked from the doorway to Simon's room.

"Yup." He answered.

"Do you want to tell me about it guy to guy?"

"Nah, it wasn't anything that would interest you." He lied.

"Well, whatever dude." Alvin said, turning to walk away.

"Night dude." Simon called.

"Night," Alvin replied, "Hey, do you know what's up with Theo by the way? He's been in his room since you guys came home."

"No clue." Simon answered, "Probably nothing though. He'll talk to us if he wants."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

_**Well, hope you enjoyed this…different chapter… you know the drill. READ AND RESPOND!**_

_**Also, if I offended anyone with this selection, please let me know via Private Message and I will get to you as soon as I read it. the next bit of writing you will see from me will be called **__**MISTAKES AND MIRACLES**__**. Strange name, but it will appear in parts as I get done with each bit. After it is complete, I will go back to the final story arc for **__**Getting to Know You.**_

_**That's all I have to say, and there isn't anything else except…**_

Happy Reading,

Musicalreader


	27. Chapter 25

Getting to Know You

Part XXV

When things fall apart…

"Goodnight Jeanette," Eleanor said as she left her older sister's room.

"Oh, goodnight Ellie," she replied, smiling from her bed as Eleanor shut the door to her room.

When she was alone, Eleanor tried to get the images out of her head from Jeanette's story. She had thought they were on a romantic night out, but they had done _way_ more then she had expected… she sighed as she thought about her own relationship with Theodore. They had started out innocent like Jeanette and Simon, then the tour happened and ever since then they had never been the same. They used to be best friends, now it seemed to her more and more that they were becoming just a release for the other. She had tried to talk to Theo about it, but it never seemed like the right time. And when it was the right time, they somehow always ended up having sex… Was that normal?

The phone buzzed on her nightstand and she picked it up to see who was calling. When she saw Theodore on the caller ID, she figured that now was as good a time as any to talk things out.

"Hey Theo," she said, flipping open the phone, "What's up?"

"I was just calling to see if you were ready for the meet tomorrow," he replied.

"Yeah, I'm ready for it," Ellie answered, "Uhhh, Theo, can I talk to about something?"

"Sure babe, what is it?" was the response.

"Well," she began hesitantly, "I was talking to Jeanette just now about what happened between her and Simon on their date, and I got to thinking, do you still love me?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line, "Of course I still love you Eleanor, why would you ever ask that?"

"Well, it seems like we don't do anything together anymore besides track and field, and sex… I feel like we're just using each other for pleasure."

"Baby, I love you more than anything on earth." He interrupted, "I never want you to feel like that, now what can I do to help?"

"As far as I know, nothing," she replied sadly, "I think I'm just overreacting to something, or maybe I'm over thinking things…"

"Yeah, I have nights like that too," he reassured her, "Sometimes I wonder if maybe we rushed into things and should take a break…" but as soon as he said it, he knew he shouldn't have.

"Oh shit Ellie, I didn't mean how that sounded… I'm happy with you, I was talking without thinking, just forget I said anything okay?" he begged.

"You really wonder if we should be together?" she asked, choking up a little, "I was thinking about cooling it down for a while and going back to the beginning, but if you think we shouldn't have _**rushed into it**_, then by all means."

"Ellie, that isn't what I meant, I want to be with you I swear." He tried to console her.

"No Theo, I don't want to be a part of something that was a mistake." She said finally.

"I'm trying to tell you that it _wasn't_ a mistake. I think those things because I'm a guy, they don't mean anything. It's just testosterone talking."

"And why should I believe you?" she asked, glaring a hole into the ceiling over her bed.

"Because I love you Ellie," he answered, "I loved you before we had sex, I loved you before we even went on tour last summer, why would I want to end something that is so precious to me?"

"Maybe you don't, but right now I need to think about all this Theo." She said sighing, "Look, I'm going to go to bed, maybe I just need some sleep, but I'll see you at the meet tomorrow and we'll talk about it then okay?"

Theo recognized when to back away and reluctantly agreed. They said goodnight and hung up, each left to their own thoughts…

The next day, at the athletics field the loudspeaker buzzed to life to introduce the teams…

"**WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TO THE FIFTEENTH ANNUAL INTERDISTRICT FIELD DAY! WE HAVE AN EXCITING COMPETITION AHEAD OF US SO LET'S INTRODUCE THE SCHOOLS… FIRST ON THE FIELD, IN THE PURPLE AND GOLD JERSEY'S WE HAVE THE NEEDHAM B. BROUGHTON HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD TEAM. IN THE BLUE AND WHITE, PLEASE WELCOME MILLBROOK HIGH TRACK AND FIELD TEAM, AND LASTLY, IN THE RED AND YELLOW, PLEASE WELCOME YOUR VERY OWN HENRY CLAY HIGH SCHOOL FALCONS!"**

As the crowd applauded and cheered, the teams ran onto their sections of the field to warm up and relax before the main event. Theo walked onto the field and looked around for Eleanor. He finally saw her, sitting in the grass and talking to Brad, the soccer team captain. He jogged over to her and was about to say hi when he overheard her agreeing for him to pick her up at seven…

"Ellie," he called, getting her attention once Brad had walked away, "What was that about?"

"Oh, Theo… that was Brad, he was just asking me if I wanted a ride to the senior block party next week. Is that a problem?" she responded over her shoulder.

"Uhhh, yeah, a little bit of a problem yes." He answered, "You don't think I have a problem with my girlfriend going to a party with another guy? Did you even think to ask if I was going?"

"I did ask you." she bit back, "I actually asked three times. You kept saying it _**wasn't your thing**_… and I wanted to go, so I got a ride. Do YOU have a problem with that?"

"Yes, I have a problem with that. Honestly, if you wanted to go that badly, you should have told me flat out. You know I can't take subtle hints… if it means that much to you, I'll drive you next week."

"Too late, I already told him to pick me up at seven." She answered, turning to face her shoes as she tied, untied, and retied the knots.

"Damnit!" he exclaimed, sitting down and glaring at the grass. "You just love to piss me off like this don't you?"

"Where did _that_ come from?" she asked, spinning to face him, "Last time I checked, you never had a problem with me doing stuff without you. God, what's with you today?"

"I don't know," he answered sarcastically, "You know, maybe it has to do with you threatening to break up yesterday? Do you think that has something to do with it?"

"Maybe I should take that threat seriously…" she muttered.

Before he could respond, Theodore was interrupted by the announcer, "_**ALL RUNNERS COMPETING IN THE MEN'S MILE RUN, PLEASE REPORT TO THE STARTING LINE!"**_

"We'll talk about this shit later…" he said as he ran over to the starting line. Anger fueling his muscles when the starting gun went off and he burst off the blocks to win by a full minute. But when he went back to the grass where the rest of his school was, Eleanor wasn't anywhere to be seen. He looked around and saw one of her friends from her art class and asked her where Ellie had gone.

"I don't know, she said something about needing space and ran off for the bathroom like, five minutes ago…" was the answer.

He looked over at the restrooms and saw a small queue forming outside the girls room, when h got there, he asked what was happening and was told that someone was in there crying their eyes out. The bottom dropped out from his stomach and he hung his head in self loathing. He had been too mean, why the hell was he acting like this? He got so caught up in his own thoughts that he almost missed the call for his next event. And even when he did get there in the nick of time, he came in third of five… this was not his day for anything it seemed.

After he lost the event, he went over to the grassy patch and glanced over the area. He was surprised to see that Eleanor was actually sitting there. He rushed over to her to apologize. When he reached her, the first thing he noticed was that she had NOT been crying…then he noticed her angry expression.

"You know Theo, I don't mind you and me having the occasional fight, but you know what I _do_ hate?" she asked, not giving him even the chance to say hi.

"Uhhh, am I supposed to actually guess?" he wondered out loud.

"No, you're not, but I'll tell you anyway. I hate it when you _purposely_ run off and ignore me." She answered angrily.

"But El," he tried to explain, "I saw a crowd around the girls room, then I heard that someone was crying, and then I felt bad, and then the race, and you were here the whole time?"

"One, that made no sense, but I don't care right now. Two, yes I was here the whole time." She said, looking at him like he was insane, "And three, Theo, what you said earlier really hit home with me."

"What did I say?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

"You made me realize that maybe it's time we got some space for a while…" Ellie explained softly, looking him dead in the eye.

The floor dropped out from beneath him and his stomach rose in his throat, "Are you serious?" he choked out, fighting back the urge to break down then and there. He had said some things sure, but he had never meant them.

Eleanor sighed and answered, "Yeah, I just need some time to think and I think it's best if we take a break…"

"So that's it then?" Theo reiterated, suddenly wanting all this to be a dream, a horrible, horrible dream.

"Yeah," she answered, standing up to head over to her first event, "That's it…" and with that, she headed off, leaving him standing there stricken numb. A hole where his heart used to be…

Alvin and Dave were sitting on the couch watching "Nightmare on Elm Street IV" when Theo came in the door and walked with an angry stomp into the kitchen.

"Hey bro, how'd the meet go?" Alvin asked, his eyes glued to Freddy's glove onscreen.

Theodore stayed silent as he grabbed the bag of candy from the pantry shelf and a couple bottles of water.

"Theodore?" Dave called out, "Are you okay? What happened?"

He walked out of the kitchen and turned the sharp corner leading up the steps and to his room.

Dave had been a single dad long enough to know when the boys needed their space. But he couldn't help but notice that his youngest had just done the exact same thing he did as a young child whenever he was stressed out.

"Alvin, could you go see what's wrong with your brother?" he said, not really asking.

"Can it wait until after I see Freddy gut this guy?" he replied, his eyes glued to the screen.

"Alvin…" Dave started,

"Ah come on dad, I want to see the creep get it." he tried to explain, stalling for time.

"ALVIN…" he continued, his face already getting a little bit more red.

"It's going to take like three seconds more…"

"ALVIN!" he burst out.

"Okay okay, I'll go check on him, no need to shout you know." He grumbled as he stood up from the couch and walked up the stairs…

_**There you are folks. The first part of the Theo and Ellie story-arc, this one will be much shorter than the others and will be updated not weekly, but rather infrequently. I will definitely try and get a new chapter up by Monday mornings at the latest. This is also the first story-arc that I will do NO OUTLINES FOR… this means that if you leave a suggestion in the reviews or PM me, you have an excellent chance of seeing your idea written, for whatever that's worth to you. As always, you read it, you better damn well review it. and this goes for Anonymous as well as Members.**_

Happy Reading,

Musicalreader


	28. Chapter 26

Getting to Know You

Part XXVI

When things fall apart…

As Alvin walked towards his brother's room, he could hear Theo pacing and slamming things like he always did when he was upset about something. He was careful when he opened the door that Theo wasn't getting ready to throw something at it. When he saw that it was safe, he opened the door and tried to talk to his little brother…

"Hey dude, what's up?" he asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about…" Theodore grumbled, walking to the other side of his bed and picking up his drumsticks from the floor.

"Well, if nothing's wrong, then why are you acting all frustrated?" he asked sarcastically, leaning up against the doorframe.

"I'm pissed off." Theo confessed.

"And I'm just trying to figure out why you're pissed off." Alvin summed up.

"It has nothing to do with you." he reiterated.

"Well, if you're going to keep me up all night with this little tantrum, yeah, it affects me."

He sat down on the bed and watched his little brother continue to grumble and pace. Finally, after about five minutes of silence, broken only by the sound of the second hand on the clock, Theo sat down next to Alvin and sighed.

"Ellie and I had a fight today." He admitted.

"Is that all?" Alvin asked nonchalantly, "That's not so bad, every couple has fights."

"Yeah, but this one ended badly…"

"How?" he asked, "It's not like you guys broke up." Alvin said laughingly, stopping abruptly when he saw the look of pure rage in Theo's eyes. "Oh shit… you guys broke up?"

"Yeah…" Theo answered, "I'm not even sure why… I think she just wanted some space."

Alvin got up and headed for the door before speaking over his shoulder, "Maybe it was because you two don't do anything except screw…"

Theo flew off the bed and grabbed what was nearest to him on the bed, his drumsticks, and hurled them across the room towards Alvin's head. Luckily for him, Alvin had already ducked out of the way and shut the door, so instead of possibly killing his brother, the sticks merely crashed against the door leaving two dents at head height. When he calmed down a few minutes later, Theo threw himself face down on his bed and wept. He was turning into a monster.

"First I blow up at Ellie…then I try and kill Alvin… what the hell is wrong with me?" he moaned into the pillow, tears seeping into the cloth as he thought about the monster he was becoming.

On Monday, Eleanor strolled into the halls of the school. She had cried over the weekend as she remembered Theo's face after she suggested taking a break. As angry as she had been, it had still hurt her to leave him looking like that. She had been half tempted on Sunday to call him and try and patch things up, but Britney had stopped her saying, "He screwed up, he apologizes." Nevertheless, Eleanor was hell bent on making up with him. With that thought in mind, she walked over to the locker group the kids shared and waited patiently for him to show up. While she was standing there, biding her time, Brad sauntered over…

"Hey Ellie," he greeted, "I heard what happened between you and Theo. Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." She responded, looking down the hall for Theo to come in the doors.

"So, uh, I was wondering, since you just broke up with him and all, are we still on for the block party?" he asked.

"Sure, yeah, whatever…" she answered distractedly.

"Great!" he exclaimed, "Oh, and I just thought I'd let you know… I heard from Michelle that after you stormed off at the meet, this girl came over and started hugging him… that's al I know sorry."

Eleanor's head snapped to the side to face Brad directly when she heard this. Though it was a little known fact, she had always been the jealous type, and this news changed her mood from being sorry to straight up furious. Brad walked off to his first class and Ellie continued to stand there fuming until Theo walked in the front doors.

When he finally reached his locker, Ellie blocked his path. He looked up into her eyes with something like a deadened expression hidden behind his usual happiness. "Hi Ellie," he started, clearly unsure of what to say…

"Hi Theo," she returned, a venomous tone in her voice. "What did YOU do this weekend?"

"I stayed at home" he admitted dejectedly. "What about you?"

"I went out with my sisters and did some shopping." She answered, "What about after the meet?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, clearly confused.

"I want to know what happened after we _parted ways_ at the meet." She told him bluntly. "Did you hang out with anyone?"

Theo was now thoroughly lost in the conversation, but he tried his best to answer, "Uh, well, after we broke up…" he started, his voice cracking a little at the last two words. "I finished the meet, and went home."

"No girl activity?" she questioned, digging for anything telling.

"What?" he exclaimed, "Where the hell did that come from?"

"I know you hung out with a girl Theo, I just want to know who and what you did." She summed up.

"Well you know what?" he began, his anger rising at her undeserved ire, "Seeing as you wanted some space… I don't see how it's any of your business who I do and do not talk to."

"FINE!" she practically screamed back, picking up her stuff and turning on her heels to walk away in a huff.

_What the hell was up with her?_ He wondered to himself…

As she walked to class, Eleanor pulled out her phone and sent off a quick text message to Brad:

**To: Brad**

**From: E7713**

**Hey! I wnt 2 m33t ^ w/you aftr skool. Com f1nd m3 n the prkng l0t aftr lst bell. 3**

_**For those of you who can't read the message above or who don't have text, people like me, here's what it says:**_ Hey! I want to meet up with you after school. Come find me in the parking lot after last bell. Heart.

_**I hope you liked this, the story got a bit deeper, the characters went through some more drama, and a new loop was thrown in… tell me what you think of it in the Reviews section. That applies to Anon and Members alike. You read it, you review it. Send me a message if you have ANY questions or concerns. Also, final note, thank you to everyone who read and reviewed WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN… I really thought it went over well, stay awesome!**_

Happy Reading,

Musicalreader


	29. Chapter 27

Getting to Know You

Part XXVII

When things fall apart…

When the last bell of the day rang, Eleanor sprang out of her seat and made her way quickly towards the front parking lot. If Theo was going to be a complete ass about the whole situation, she had a perfect right to mess with his head. And she intended to do just that…

When she reached the front doors, she looked out across the islands and finally spotted Brad sitting on the back of a green Nissan. she waved at him as she walked over, trying not to look like she was in too much of a rush, and he smiled and stood up.

"Hey Ellie," he greeted her cheerfully when she was close enough. "What did you want to meet up with me for?" he asked.

"Hey Brad, I just needed to be with a friend to talk to." She replied cryptically, holding out her arms and hugging him for no reason.

Brad was startled for a few seconds, then relaxed and hugged her back. After a couple seconds, Eleanor broke off the hug and smiled up at him, "Do you want to go somewhere else?" she asked.

"Uh, sure?" he answered, not exactly sure what was up with her but going along with it.

She tucked her hand into his and led him towards her van parked a few yards away. When they got closer, she told him to hop in as she climbed into the driver's seat and started up the engine. When Brad was in the passenger's seat and they were both buckled in, she pulled out of the parking lot and headed downtown towards the fair grounds. While she was driving, Brad reached over to the knob on the stereo and turned on the radio. When _**Trap of Love**_ came on, Eleanor slammed her hand on the power button and plunged the ride into silence.

"Was there a reason you shut that off?" Brad asked, not really caring if she answered.

"I uh, don't like that one." Ellie brushed off, pulling into a parking space near the entrance to the fairgrounds. "Oh look at that, we're here."

They got out and started to walk along the deserted path that would fill with life each autumn as the annual fair was held. The mirror maze was unlocked and Eleanor led Brad in by the hand "In case they got lost". After about a good ten minutes of wandering, Brad stopped in his tracks and spun Eleanor around to face him.

"Okay now, spill it, what is up that you're acting like this?" he demanded.

Eleanor shifted her weight between feet before answering reluctantly, "Theo and I had another fight today in the hall, and this time I'm not sure if it's even worth the effort to keep going out with him."

"Alright, I can follow that. But why did you need to suddenly meet me back at school and then we come over _here_ of all places?" he responded, motioning at the walls of reflective glass around them.

"Well, I'm not sure. But I know I wanted to talk to someone, and you're quite possibly the person that irks Theodore the most at the moment. I guess I just want to do something new. I mean, we're taking a break, so why can't I have fun?"

Brad glared off into the distance over her head and sighed, "Look, Ellie, I like you and all, but to be honest, I don't like to be used, even slightly. No guy does. So I need to know right now, are you serious about wanting to move on past Theo?"

She thought about that for a minute or two, and reluctantly answered, "Yes, I think we're done together."

"Fine, so now I know you're not cheating and it would be my fault, would you like to go to the block party Friday as _more_ than friends?"

"Are you asking me out as a date?" she questioned, still a little chilled by the fact that she had just admitted to the spark of more than a year long relationship fading out.

"I know its shitty timing, but yeah. I like you, and I want to be with you." he continued, missing the look of pain on her face as she considered saying no to one of her nicest friends.

After a few more seconds with her answer on the tip of her tongue, she said yes and he pulled her close. After they found their way out of the mirror maze, they made their way back to her van hand in hand.

The rest of the week flew by after that afternoon, every day bringing Eleanor and Brad closer together, and all without getting too serious. They held hands, exchanged hugs in public, and in general, Eleanor was happy. But she noticed that the few times Theo walked by, he looked worse and worse. Though they had fought, she couldn't ignore the fact that they had been friends for years. And seeing him like this, boyfriend or not, worried her. He was usually upbeat and smiling, but now he looked beaten. It looked almost like he had lost no less than a dozen fights before getting out of bed. Finally, Friday night came and found her getting ready for her first official date with Brad.

While Ellie was changing in her room, her sister knocked on her door.

"El?" Jeanette called out quietly, poking her head around the door.

"Hey Jeanette," Eleanor greeted, "Come on in."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked from the doorway.

Ellie shifted in her seat and waved her older sister to sit down on the bed across from her. "Of course you can. What is it?"

"Well, it's just that I'm getting worried is all…" Jeanette said quietly. "Do you actually like Brad, or are you going out with him to get back at Theodore?"

"That," she responded emphatically, "Is a ridiculous question. I don't go out with a guy unless I really like him. Besides, it's not like we're getting serious or anything."

"Oh I know you're keeping it innocent." Jeanette said defensively, "I'm just worried that you're going out with Brad to spite Theo, and to be honest, Simon and I are getting worried about him. Have you talked to him this week?"

"Well, we said hi in the hall, but other than that, no, I try and give him his space." Ellie said, staring off into space as she absentmindedly played with her hair.

"Are you really?" Jeanette probed further, "Or are you trying to fool someone?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, are you trying to say that I'm messing with Theo?"

"Well, you said that, not me. And no, I think you're trying to fool yourself into the idea that you're not doing any harm and this is all for the right reasons." She answered, a rather deep inference for a seventeen year old.

Ellie was silent for a minute as Jeanette stared at her and quietly tried to figure her out. Eventually, her younger sister turned around and told her to leave. "You're messing with my head Jeanette; and I don't want to yell at you."

She nodded her head and got up to leave, but as she reached the door, she turned around to say one last thing. "He loves you you know. Theodore, you're hurting him just by not being with him. Just saying…"

Eleanor sat in silence for a little bit before shrugging off her older sister's advice and promising herself that she would have fun at the block party. When the clock said that it was five, she went downstairs to wait for Brad to pick her up. Ten minutes later, he pulled up to the house and they were off.

Theo was pissed off at the world. He had watched all week unseen as his girlfriend was being stolen by that pretty boy Brad. There was something he didn't trust about him. He was _too_ perfect to be real. And to top it all off, when he arrived at the block party, the first thing he noticed was Eleanor and Brad holding hands and laughing near the speakers. He had to do something to get her back, but he didn't know what…

Luckily for him, he didn't have to figure out how to get Ellie alone, that opportunity presented itself when Brad went off to who knows where to do whatever. When he was far enough out of the way, Theo walked over to Ellie and tried his best to act calm.

"Hey El," he greeted, "How's it going?"

"Oh… hi Theo." She returned, surprised by his presence, "It's uh, going well… I thought you said that parties weren't your thing."

"Well, I figured that if you were going to come, I'd at least try and have a good time." He lied, knowing full well that he had come here only to keep an eye on her and her _**date**_.

"That's nice, but you know that we're through right?" she asked, putting a little distance between him and her, "I mean, you're still my best friend, but I'm going out with Brad now."

Even though he heard her say the last few words, he tried to ignore them. "Ellie, I', going to be honest, I love you. I always did and I always will, but I am really getting a bad vibe from this Brad guy… I mean, we had something special, and I'll try and change so we don't fight like that ever again. Just please give me a chance."

Ellie took a step back and tried to get even more space from Theo, clearly freaked out by his response. "I told you already, I'm with Brad and that's how it is now. If you don't like it, then that's your problem!"

Theo took a breath and tried to say the next sentence as calmly as he could, "I'm telling you though Ellie, I may have my faults, but Brad is just too perfect, there's something up with him."

"There is nothing wrong with Brad!" she yelled, almost drowning out the sound system, "If you can't deal with the fact that I've moved on, then there's something wrong with YOU!"

Just then, Brad walked over holding a couple cans of soda, "Uh, am I interrupting something here?" he asked innocently.

"No you're not." Ellie answered forcefully, sidling up to Brad and draping one arm around his waist. Then, just to drive the point home to Theo, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down for a deep, showy, kiss.

When they finally broke away, Eleanor gasping for breath, Theo felt like the ground beneath his feet had split and swallowed him whole. He turned on his heel and walked over to his car, peeling off down the road towards his house.

"Okay, now seriously, what the hell was that about?" Brad asked, staring off into the distance after Theo's car and looking to his date for answers.

Ellie stood there in stunned silence, not daring to believe that she had just done something to bitchy to her best friend. But then she reminded herself that it was none of his business what she did with her new boyfriend. "That was just a little uh… discussion?" she offered, looking up into her dates eyes innocently.

"Well, whatever you say it was, if you need me to help you with it, I'm here for you…" he offered, putting his arm around her shoulders and steering her over to the dance floor as the sun set and the music grew…..

_**Well, there you go, two chapters left in GtKY, after this story is done, I will be writing for Danny Phantom. So if that sounds like something you'd like, feel free to tag me and you'll be alerted when my first new story comes out. But don't worry; it won't be for awhile yet. Updates will be awkward for a little bit though since school restarted and I'm getting used to appropriate times to get my writing done. Tune in next week for what happens in the week after the party and Theo's seemingly FINAL rejection by Ellie. And, if you're lucky and you review or PM me with your ideas, I might just use them…**_

_**You read it, now REVIEW it. Any questions should be mailed to me via Private Message, and I hope I can hear from all of you. It is truly your continued reading that makes me keep writing and feeling good.**_

Happy Living,

Musicalreader


	30. Chapter 28

Getting to Know You

Part XXIIX

When things fall apart…

It had been a week since the party and Theodore had been in a fuming rage since he saw Ellie kiss Brad. It had even carried over to his home life; he would snap at his brothers without provocation. He cussed out his track coach and earned a one week suspension from the team, and then he compounded it by getting in a fight with another junior that earned him a warning with the addendum that if he fought on campus again he would be suspended for a minimum of two weeks.

While all this was going on, his friends took notice and tried to get Eleanor to talk to him and calm him down. Every time they asked though, she said the same thing, "He won't listen so why should I waste my time?" it was reaching the point that those who were close to the two of them were considering such drastic measures an intervention. Finally, on Monday, one week and three days after the kiss…

Theo had come home from school earlier than he had in almost two whole years. He should have been at practice, or doing something with Ellie, but instead he had been told by Dave to come home immediately after classes were over to avoid any trouble. So here he was, in his room, listening to Metallica and raging at the world via the internet. Suddenly, someone knocked on his door and interrupted his irate solitude.

"What do you want?" he yelled over the sounds of _St. Anger_.

"It's Jeanette, can I come in?" she responded, aside from Eleanor, Jeanette was the person Theo got along with best.

"Sure, come in I guess…" Theo invited, even going so far as to turning down the music and facing the doorway where she now stood.

"Are you going to listen to what I have to say or are you going to blow up like you have been all week?" she asked bluntly.

"Depends on what you have to say." He admitted.

"Fair enough… I wanted to talk to you about Ellie, and about you." she started, "It seems like you guys had one big fight and instead of trying to fix it, you both decided to cut your losses."

"Well I can't help it if she's going to be stubborn and do stuff she knows piss me off… I mean, e were doing so well, I thought we were meant to be you know?" he admitted, his tone changing erratically from anger to sorrow to frustration and back to anger.

"Did you ever stop to ask her why she was going to other guys to talk about things?" Jeanette wondered aloud.

"No, as far as I know, she wasn't talking about much other than what time they were going to pick her up… I mean who the hell does that?" he bellowed, losing his cool and punching the headboard on his bed so hard that they heard the wood crack.

"Well, she was asking them about what she should do with your relationship." She informed him somberly, "She was asking other guys how to deal with your problems. If that doesn't say you two need to talk things out, I don't know what does."

Theo's anger faded almost instantly as he realized what he was hearing. Eleanor had felt more comfortable talking to other guys about what they were going through as a couple than just approaching him. Was he that off putting to talk things over with?

"Did she ever talk to you about what was bothering her?" he asked softly, his head still spinning from the news of what was really going on before.

"As a matter of fact, she did." Jeanette admitted getting a bit red in the face. "She told me that she felt like all you guys had in your relationship was…um, sex…" she answered awkwardly.

Now it was Theo's turn to blush. Talking about sex with his dad or brothers or even Ellie was different from talking about with her sister. "Like, did she say that we were doing it too often or what?" he asked.

"Well, as her sister, I'd say that you did it too often, but her words were that she felt like you always wanted to do it and she was worried that was the only reason you stayed with her… she felt used."

"That's stupid!" he exclaimed, shooting out of his seat, "we did it so much because I thought she wanted it. Besides, I loved her before we started having sex and I'd love her still if she wanted to stop. Did she really think all I wanted was that one thing? That I hadn't any other feelings for her other than lust?"

"I couldn't tell you Theo, but if you want my advice, try and talk to her again, but not right away, give it a little bit so she can see that you can back off when she needs you to. I have a feeling that she doesn't really like Brad as much as she puts on, she's just doing it to get under your skin. Kind of a bitchy move, but that's how she feels she needs to get your attention." Jeanette advised.

"Okay then, thanks for telling me all this Jeanette, but could you do me a favor?" he asked, "Could you tell her that I wasn't in the relationship just for the physical stuff, I genuinely love her and it hurts when I see her with other guys the way she is now with Brad…"

She nodded and smiled, "Sure thing Theo…" and with that, she left the room and shut to door to leave him alone with his thoughts.

The next day, in the locker room…

Theodore was changing out of his usual sweater and into his gym clothes. He had slept calmly for the first time in about a week. Knowing that there was still hope for him and Ellie to get back together had gone a long way to helping him. As he was about to leave, he passed by one of the small clusters of guys in the men's locker room talking about what they had done over the weekend, but one voice stood out above all the others. Over the rest of the guys bragging about the girls they had hooked up with, Theo distinctly heard Brad's voice talking in a proud tone about all the things he had done with Ellie…

"So we're driving along up to this overhang on the hill and when I park the car she's all over me right. I mean, she's been practically squirming for the last hour wanting to have some fun, so we park and the next thing I know, she's out of her seat and grinding into my leg as she straddles me and starts tearing at my shirt…" he bragged.

It was all Theo could do not to launch himself over the bystanders and kick him in his pompous, lying face, but he tried to remain calm lest he get in serious trouble. That's when Brad continued…

"And you should have heard her moan when I stuck it in… she was begging for it like a bitch in heat."

When he heard that, Theo's psyche snapped like a twig and he threw three guys out of the way by force and slammed into Brad so hard with his shoulder that he hit the lockers ten feet away. As Brad was struggling to his feet to see what had just hit him, Theo ran forward and hauled his fist back, slamming it into his face and following through. There was a crack and a spurt of blood as his nose shattered and he stumbled back even further. Theo didn't back off for an instant, he grabbed his hair in a clump and slammed Brads pretty boy face into the door of the locker so hard that he left a dent big enough to crumple the edges and render it unusable from then on after. The coaches that were in the room broke through the crowd of stunned bystanders who had not had any time to react, the whole thing having taken place in under five seconds.

Two of the coaches grabbed Theo by the shoulders and yanked him out of the locker room, though it was entirely unnecessary given the fact that he neither resisted nor wanted to continue, the fight having been won already. Nevertheless, when he was heading out of the locker room, he could hear the coach tending to Brad calling for someone to go call an ambulance. As soon as 911 had been dialed and the paramedics wheeled Brad out and off to the hospital for x-rays, Theo was sent to the office and told to wait until the coaches had finished telling her what had happened. After about a half hour in the office waiting area, he was finally called in to talk to the principal face to face.

"I'm not going to lie Theo, if what they said is true, then you're looking at a minimum of two to three weeks suspension and total extracurricular expulsion for the rest of the year." Dr. Ambrose said. "Now, why don't you tell me what happened…"

"It's probably what the coaches said, I broke Brad's nose and slammed his head into a locker hard enough to dent it." Theo admitted unashamedly.

"Yes, but why?" she asked, leaning forward in her seat. "Theo, you have been a model student and an excellent athlete… what would possess you to do something as stupid as this?"

"He was spreading lies about Ellie to get his rep up." He said matter-of-factly, "And you know what? I'd do it again without a second thought."

The principal sighed and got up out of her seat to pace for a little while. "You realize of course that by saying that last bit and showing no remorse, you have pretty much signed your own suspension… I could have let you off with a month's worth of detentions, but your behavior this past week has left that unusable."

"Then suspend me…" he invited. "I really don't care about it at this point."

"I'm going to suspend judgment on suspension until we can verify that Brad was in fact spreading lies and by definition, sexually harassing Eleanor." Dr. Ambrose finally said, "But I want to make this perfectly clear, you fought on school grounds. You are banned from any sports activity in which you participate in, and you are under in-school-suspension for the rest of week while I investigate further."

Theo couldn't believe his ears, he was getting off _easy?_ He could live with the loss of the sports, but what he really dreaded was going home and telling his dad about it. "Can I use your phone?" he asked from his seat.

"Certainly, dial 9 then the number to get hold of your father" she answered, as if she knew who he was going to call.

Theo held his breath as the other end rang once, twice, finally, on the fourth ring, Dave picked up.

"Hello? Who is this?" Dave asked.

"Hey dad, it's Theo." He answered.

"What are you doing on the phone during school Theo?" Dave asked. "Did you forget something?"

"Uhhh, not exactly, no… I got in a fight." Theo said, cringing for the reaction.

His father was silent for a minute, then suddenly, "WHAT? Why were you fighting and are you expelled!"

"Uhhh, I wasn't expelled. And I only have a week's worth of ISS." He started, trying to calm his dad down before continuing. "And I was in a fight because this guy was talking about Eleanor."

"So?" Dave asked, "Was it worth almost getting in serious trouble?"

"You didn't hear what they were saying about her dad… this guy was talking about doing stuff with her that she would never do."

"Like what, drugs?" he guessed.

"No, he was talking about screwing her and made her sound like a slut…" Theo said, his voice cracking, the bravado from just minutes ago slipping away as quickly as the rage that had possessed him before had risen.

Dave grew silent again, but when he started to talk again, he no longer sounded angry. "Do you need me to come pick you up?" he asked.

Theo looked at the principal and asked if he was allowed to stay on campus. She told him that he was supposed to go home.

"Dr. Ambrose said that I have to leave campus, and I walked to school today, so could you pick me up dad?" he asked, totally surprised when Dave agreed to come get him.

"I'll be there to pick you up in ten minutes. Wait for me outside… and we'll talk about what happened when we get you home okay Theodore?" Dave continued.

"Yes sir." He responded, not quite sure what to make of what had just happened.

When he hung the phone up, Dr. Ambrose asked him how he was getting home. When she heard that Dave was coming to pick him up, she offered to wait with him outside the school entrance. As they walked down the hall for Theo to get his things from his locker, they passed Eleanor who shot him a dirty look and continued walking without so much as a hello.

"For what it's worth Theo," the principal said, "I think you did the right thing. Just in the wrong way… and I wouldn't worry about Eleanor, she'll hear what happened eventually and realize that you did what you thought was best for her."

"Thanks…" Theo answered, staring down at the floor tiles as they walked to what he was sure to be one pissed off Dave.

Surprisingly enough, when they got outside in the sun, they only had to wait about two minutes before Dave drove up to the parking lot and parked, getting out to greet Dr. Ambrose pleasantly.

"Good afternoon Doctor." He greeted.

"Good afternoon to you as well Mr. Seville." She replied, shaking his hand with a knowing smile.

"I'll wait in the car dad." Theo said dejectedly, throwing his stuff into the passenger seat and closing the door behind him.

"Are you really mad at him?" she asked, looking at Dave.

"Not really, I mean, I was obviously at first, but when I heard why he did it, I understood and to be honest, I would have done worse if it had been me…" Dave answered.

"I understand. But may I suggest that you tell him you're not really mad at him, he looks absolutely miserable." She advised.

"I know Doctor, don't worry." Dave replied smiling, "You have a nice day now."

"And the same to you Mr. Seville." She returned, spinning on her heels and heading back into the school.

_**Okay, that makes Ch. 28 complete. And that also means that there are only two more to go. They will be updated as soon as they are done, much like this one, so be sure to put this story on author alert if I should update on a weekday. Hope you liked this chapter, now review it. that means you…**_

_**As stated before, this will be the last story I write for AATC, after Getting to Know You is done, I will start writing a new batch of stories for Danny Phantom. Mostly romance or fun, though there is a multi-chapter tragedy in the works as well. As always,**_

Happy Reading (and Living)

Musicalreader


	31. Chapter 29

Getting to Know You

Part XXIX

The Finale…

Theodore sat in his dad's car waiting for the anger that was sure to follow the fight. He was certain that Dave, who had to put up with Alvin as a small child, would not take kindly to his own actions; and that all the smiling and talking going on outside the car was a mask for the principals sake. Needless to say, he was thrown off guard completely when Dave opened the driver's door, sat down, and asked him point blank what had happened.

"Uhhh, well, it's like you heard from the principal, this guy was talking about Ellie, and I just lost it… I'm sorry." He answered, trying to sound repentant and at least lessen his punishment.

"Did you win?" Dave asked, not looking over at his son's look of surprise.

"I guess, I mean, I kind of left a big dent in the locker with his head."

"And you did all this to protect Eleanor's reputation?" he questioned further.

"Yes sir." Theo answered.

"Then you did the right thing…" Dave said flatly, grinning sideways at his youngest son.

Theodore's jaw dropped at least a foot when the words registered. "Dad? Are you serious? That's all I get for fighting?"

"That's all. You know what you did was wrong. But what you need to know is that sometimes it's the right thing to do. Personally, I would have gone up to this kid after class and talked to him, but something tells me that that wasn't an option. So as long as you did it for the right reason, I can let this one go."

"Uhhh, thanks dad…" Theo answered, still a little stunned and confused, but at the same time, happy.

"Do you remember what happened on the tour last summer?" Dave asked. "When that guy came at Eleanor and you protected her?

"How could I forget that?" he responded.

"Well, it was the same kind of situation that just happened. You did what you could to keep her from being hurt. And I'm sure that as soon as she hears what happened, she'll want to know why. And when she hears the truth, she'll know you did the right thing too." Dave reassured him.

"I hope you're right dad…" Theo answered as they pulled into the driveway and he went up to his room to distract him from his thoughts about Eleanor's reaction with some good old fashioned headbanging.

Eleanor was in her last period class when she heard about the fight in the boy's locker room. And even that was a second hand rumor that only said Brad had been involved in a fight and was in the hospital with a concussion. After that, there had been about ten different versions of the story, some said that his head had dented a locker; others said that he had his head pushed _through_ a locker. Then there was the strangest account that said he had been minding his own business when he was clubbed from behind by a baseball bat. So of course, after she heard about the fight, she did the only natural thing and texted her sisters to meet her in the hall in five minutes.

Five minutes later, Eleanor was standing outside the girls restroom as she watched her older sisters round the corner discussing something in hushed, clipped words.

"I still think we should tell her." Jeanette said, not aware that Ellie could already hear her.

"Shut up Jen, do you want her to hear?" Britney replied, looking at her youngest sister and pretending to smile sincerely.

"And just what should I NOT know about Britney?" she asked.

"Nothing…" Britney lied, "Me and Jen were just talking about…stuff. You know, what we were going to wear for our dates with Alvin and Simon on Friday."

"Uh huh… well, I don't really care what it really was, but I wanted to know if you guys had heard anything about the fight Brad got into earlier. He's in the hospital right now with a CONCUSSION." Eleanor explained. "Do you guys know what happened?"

Jeanette cleared her throat and started to speak, but received an elbow to the stomach from Britney. "Don't know a thing…" Jeanette gasped, biting back whatever she was really going to say.

"Then can you at least tell me why you just elbowed her Brit?" she asked, glaring at her oldest sister, who was almost at her eye level.

"That was uhhh…nothing." She lied. "I was just trying this thing I saw in a self defense class… you know how it is."

"Riiiight… well, weird behavior aside, I need you guys to help me find out who beat up Brad so I can kick their ass. Are you in?" Eleanor responded, glaring at her sisters until they agreed to help her.

"How about we all meet up at home after school and we tell you what we found out?" Jeanette suggested, trying to stall for time while trying not to look guilty.

"Yeah, that way me and Jen can talk together and compare stories to find out which ones are true." Britney supplied, going along with the ruse.

"Okay… but you guys better not hide anything form me okay?" Ellie accepted, looking suspiciously at her sisters. She was sure they knew something, she just wasn't sure what.

As she walked back to class, Jeanette and Britney began talking about what they were going to do. They had heard it was Theo who had beaten up Brad, and they weren't sure what Eleanor would do when she found out, but it wasn't going to be good. "Maybe we could get Theo to tell her himself…" Jeanette suggested.

"Do you think that would make it any worse?" Britney asked, looking at Jen skeptically.

"Well, it couldn't hurt… or maybe we could get Simon or Alvin to bring it up. I'm sure they know by now."

"Now **that** could work…" Brit agreed smiling. She knew that Alvin and Simon would be in no danger…

Jeanette texted her boyfriend with the plan, and a few seconds later they got the reply, _**"fine. I'll do it. But I'm also going to make El hear Theo out about why he did it."**_

"SWEET!" Britney exclaimed after she saw the reply, "Now just send Ellie a text saying that Simon will fill her in as soon as school lets out."

"On it," Jeanette replied texting quickly as they headed back to their classes so they wouldn't be accused of skipping.

Later that day, Simon walked over to his brother's truck when he saw Eleanor leaning against the front grill, her arms crossed in front of her in a standoffish pose.

"Hello Ellie." He greeted, his long black and white striped hair moving as he tucked part of it behind his ear.

"Hey Simon, listen, I'm going to cut to the chase, I know you know what happened to Brad, I also know that Theo was involved. Now spill it." she answered abrasively.

"Alright, now calm down and I want you to promise that you'll go talk to Theo after you hear what I know. Okay?" he answered nonchalantly.

"Whatever, just tell me already." She agreed tersely.

"Fine, chill, anyway, all I know is this. Brad was talking shit in the locker room, and whatever he said was bad enough to push Theo off the emotional deep-end. You happy? If you want anything more, go talk to my brother…besides, I think you have something to do with it anyway." Simon answered and walked away.

Eleanor sat on the sidewalk for a few minutes thinking about what Simon had just said… how could _**she**_ have had anything to do with this mess. Finally, she realized that the only way to find out was to go and see Theo to hear what _really_ happened. For all the other reasons she didn't like him at the moment, she had to admit that he had always been honest. She picked herself up off the ground and started for her car, after all, she had to know the truth…

While her mind was distracted with the painful encounter that was sure to follow her decision, here body went about the job of actually moving her to the guy's house. The next thing she knew, she was standing outside Theodore's front door unsure of what she was even going to say to him if he would talk to her. Maybe she should turn back? But before she could let her cowardice get the better of her, the front door was being opened and Dave stood there looking at her with surprise written all over his face.

"Hello Eleanor… can I help you?" he asked.

"Uhhh, I was wondering if Theo was home yet…" she mumbled.

"Actually, yes, he's upstairs if you want to talk to him."

Ellie was about to say that she would come over some other time when Theo appeared at upstairs landing and asked who was at the door.

"It's Ellie." Dave replied, "I was just about to call you down. She asked if you were here."

"I'm not." Theo said without emotion. "I'm not here. Not for her at least."

"You don't mean that." Eleanor called up to him from the doorway, "I just wanted to talk to you about a few things."

He thought about it for a minute, "Fine, come on up. We'll talk in my room." He finally consented, motioning for her to come inside."

Eleanor entered his room reluctantly. She wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling, but it felt like a mixture of happiness and anger, with a sprinkling of unease. She didn't have long to feel this way however, before he started staring at her blankly

"So what do you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Well, first of all, I want to know what's up with you lately. I know we broke up and everything, but what's with the stalker routine?" Ellie asked bitingly.

"Don't flatter yourself El. I know we broke up, but I wasn't _**stalking**_ you. Believe me, I'm not obsessive, but I was trying to look out for a friend. I told you there's something about Brad that unnerved me. He's too perfect. So I watched in case he tried to hurt you."

"But he didn't try to hurt me Theo." She retorted, her voice rising in conjunction with her anger.

"Not in front of you maybe, but trust me, he was trying." He said matter-of-factly.

"Where the hell did that come from?" she asked. Her anger temporarily overcome by her curiosity.

"I heard him in the locker room this afternoon. He was saying stuff about you for his own benefit. That's why there was a fight." He admitted, his expression flitting between anger, sadness, and pride.

"And just what was he saying that drove you to slamming his _**head**_ into a locker?" she asked, furious that the whole fight had been over words.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Theo replied, looking down at the ground.

"Theo," Eleanor started to say, her voice softening and her hand reaching out to make him look her in the eye. "As long as I've known you, no matter what went on, and despite how I feel about you at the moment, I know that you don't lie. Now what exactly did Brad say?"

He took a deep breath and steadied himself for her reaction. When he was done telling her what he had heard Brad brag about doing, her face was absolutely livid with rage, but this time it was focused on the boy that Theo had rightly thrashed to the point of hospitalization. "So that's everything?" she asked when he was done.

Theo nodded and looked into her eyes for her true reaction. He saw hurt despite her angry posturing. Hurt at being betrayed by someone he despised, but who had still brought her happiness, even if only temporarily.

When she was sure that that was the entire story, she whipped open her phone and called up Brad's cell phone. Luckily for him, his phone was off, because the message she shouted into the receiver may have singed the hair off of the top his head. While she was blitzing him out and calling him such colorful names such as "A slimy, putrid bag of shit that isn't worth the effort for me to properly kick your ass…" Theo was trying his best not to start laughing at the entire situation; for fear that she would direct her ire at him. When she was finally done screaming into her phone, she turned back to Theo with a much softer expression than he had seen in weeks.

"Can I ask you something Ellie?" he started, trying to keep the conversation rolling.

"Sure Theo," she answered, rubbing her temples like she had a migraine.

"Has Jeanette said anything to you about me lately?"

She looked at him with a puzzled look on her face, "No… she hasn't said anything to me until this afternoon… why?"

"Well, it's just that we talked, she and I, and I was curious as to whether or not she gave you this message."

"Message? Jeez Theo, you sound so formal…" she replied, smiling at the way he spoke, "But no, why don't you tell me what it was."

"Okay, but don't flip out if it sounds weird… wait until I'm done okay?" he answered, also smiling for the first time in about two weeks.

"Fine. I'll wait to laugh in your face until you're done." She promised sarcastically, leaning forward in her seat.

"Well, it started out with her telling me what you said was the main reason we broke up." He stared, looking at her anxiously, in case he overstepped.

Instead of getting mad, Eleanor actually looked sad. "Look Theo, I said a lot of things to Jeanette when I was frustrated… you may have just heard one of the stupid things I said when I didn't mean them."

"No, I think this one was real, and I actually agree with you about it. You told her that you felt like we weren't in a real relationship… that we were just using each other for sex. Or something like that. I just wanted to let you know that for me, the sex wasn't the reason I love you. I cared about you because of who you are to me."

"Oh," Ellie said surprised, "And just who am I?" she asked anxiously, finding herself hoping that he would say what she wanted to hear.

He took another deep breath, "You're my best friend, and also the girl I love more than anything else." He answered.

He started to say that if she still wanted to be separate, he would understand, but was cut short by Eleanor throwing her arms around him and holding him so tight that he couldn't breathe. As she buried her face in his chest and started to cry gently, he tried to tap out, but that only made her hug him tighter. She finally relented and released her grip on him when he started to turn blue. As he caught his breath and smiled at the unexpected path their meeting had taken, Eleanor was apologizing for everything about the past few weeks.

"El." He said, trying to get her attention, "Ellie!" he tried again laughing, "ELEANOR!" he finally exclaimed, getting her to stop talking at last. "It's alright. You don't have to apologize for anything."

She sniffled a little bit and dried her tears on the back of her hand, "You mean it?" she asked.

"Absolutely, now, not that I actually need to ask it at this point, but do you want to get back together?" he answered, laughing at her expression.

She started to laugh along with him and answered. "Of course I want to get back together. But can we go slow, like we did when we first started going out?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He agreed, smiling tenderly as he pulled her in for another hug and gently kissed her forehead.

Dave had watched the entire exchange from the cracked door after he heard voices getting raised. But as he saw how they held each other and smiled innocently, he knew they were going to be alright. And with that, he shut the door quietly and walked down the hall smiling at how much his boys had grown.

_**Okay dear readers, this concludes the official saga of **_Getting to Know You _**, I am SO SORRY for the huge gap between the last chapter and this one, but I was isolated from any computers for two weeks and wasn't able to actually write this until 9-19-10. Nevertheless, I hope you liked how it all resolved, and if you have anything to say to me about anything at all, PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW! Also, even though this was the last OFFICIAL chapter, there will be a very quick epilogue posted on 24**__**th**__**… Until then,**_

Happy Reading,

Musicalreader


	32. THE END

Getting to Know You

Last Chapter and More…

The Epilogue

The entire group managed to get through their Junior years with decent grades and their relationships safe from harm. They also graduated the next year on time, each with their own honors and recognitions.

Theodore and Eleanor took things slowly for the rest of Junior year, and over the summer they came to the conclusion that nether was content with simply hugging and kissing, nevertheless, they managed to keep their behavior in check and finally struck an equilibrium that left both feeling loved and content. They also managed to stay together despite going to different colleges.

Ellie went to the Culinary Arts School of Los Angeles after doing four years in the University of Washington, where she set three new school records for the Field events. She was almost sent to the 2012 Olympics for the U.S. Shot-put team, but turned the offer down when Theodore proposed to her after they were both done with school.

Theo went on to run Track and Field for the University of California and earned the college's All-American award for his achievements. But he also stayed up with his love of food and majored in the culinary arts with a Masters in musical theory. After college, Eleanor and he pooled their money from their touring days and went on a world tour with a special month's stop in France for their honeymoon. To date, they are expecting their third child in the summer, the first two being one girl named Beth, and a young boy named Jackson.

Alvin and Britney took a different route from their siblings and continued to write their music, perform, and tour. They have rocketed to the top of the charts as a duo no less than five times in the last four years.

Britney as an individual has won several videos for best music video, best female artist of the year, and is hailed by the tabloids as one of the few singer/songwriters who have started out as child stars and stayed popular and clean.

Alvin also has several recognitions in the musical community, most notably was his one solo album going double platinum in a record three months. His name has even been tossed around as being inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame due to his prolific career which started at an early age with his brothers. He proposed to Britney at the kickoff performance for their second world tour. The video of the event is one of the most watched videos on the internet and they are due to be wed as soon as they complete their tour and arrive back in California for a beachside wedding with a honeymoon in the Caribbean.

Simon and Jeanette, always more quiet and reserved than their siblings, nonetheless found distinction after they finished school, they both attended MIT and got their degrees in record time.

Simon got his Doctorates in Applied Physics with a Masters in Chemistry. For a short time, he was also the bass player for a Punk band that had two chart topping singles before splitting up. A year after the breakup, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contributions to World peace by successfully finding a way to synthesize radioactive waste into clean, usable fuel that cost half as much as petroleum. But his greatest achievement was marrying his high school sweetheart and best friend.

Jeanette decided to pursue the teaching path. She is a certified teacher with a Masters in Child Psychology and Development. She is also the acclaimed author of several best selling romance novels based on the lives of her siblings and herself. Her three fondest memories are the day she became Mrs. Jeanette Seville, when two of her books hit the top ten bestsellers list for the year (2015), and finally, the day that she found out she was pregnant with Simon and hers first child (yesterday). She's making the announcement tonight when they go to Dave's house for dinner with Theo and Ellie… Simon still doesn't know, but he will.

As for Dave, he proudly got to see all three of his son's walk across the stage to receive their high school diploma before making their way into the world. He is also a proud grandfather and he also gets free tickets to Alvin and Britney's shows. He is currently listed in Forbes Magazine as the third most accomplished and successful producer in the 21st century. Perhaps you saw the article?

Lastly, but certainly not least, Miss Miller and Beth… after her own girls left the house, she started a shelter for troubled girls, in memory of the young lady she had grown to love but sadly passed away just after carrying her child to term in high school. The Bethany Memorial House is currently helping dozens of troubled, battered, and abused teen girls to get on their feet and to move beyond their own past. A special plaque and a college scholarship are named in Beth's honor as well as the house itself. Her child was adopted by Miss Miller and the girls look on him as a little brother. He looks at the girls as his aunts and loves all of them, and his uncles (the boys) teach him music. Finally, all six kids help out with the shelter at least once a month (tour schedules permitting) and mostly teach the girls music.

_**There you have it… all the characters covered, all the stories told, and everything wrapped up nice and neat for you to read. I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did, and look out for my first post on the **_Danny Phantom_** FF page. If it all works out well, it should be a one shot, if not, well, you know when I update.**_

Happy Reading,

Musicalreader


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